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BABYFACE AND L.A. REID TO BE HONORED AS BMI ICONS: At 6th Annual Urban Awards Aug 30 in NYC
*NEW YORK - Prolific songwriting and production team Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid will be honored as BMI Icons at the performing right organization's 6th Annual Urban Awards.
The invitation-only gala, which will also recognize the past year's most performed BMI urban songs, is set for Aug. 30 at Roseland Ballroom in New York City, coinciding with the MTV Video Music Awards being held Aug. 31.
The Icon designation is given to BMI songwriters and artists who have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." The LaFace Records co-founders, who will be saluted with an all-star musical tribute during the ceremony, join an elite group that includes James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and last year's honorees, the Gap Band.
With more than a dozen Grammys between them, including the Producer of the Year crown they shared in 1993, seven-time BMI Songwriter of the Year Babyface and Island Def Jam Chairman L.A. Reid are responsible for launching the careers of such multi-platinum artists as Toni Braxton, TLC, Usher and Pink under their successful LaFace label. The list of stars that the hitmaking pair has worked with - both together and individually - is unparalleled and includes Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, Eric Clapton, Boyz II Men, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Outkast, Dido, Ciara, Jay-Z, and countless others.
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LA Reid & Babyface
Hosted by BMI President/CEO Del Bryant and Atlanta Writer/Publisher VP Catherine Brewton, the 6th Annual BMI Urban Awards will recognize the songwriters, publishers and producers of the top BMI urban songs played on American radio and television. An Urban Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Publisher of the Year and Producer of the Year will be named during the ceremony. In addition, the writers of the songs that reached the No. 1 spots on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop and Hot Rap Tracks charts will also be honored.
Now celebrating more than 65 years in business, BMI is an American performing right organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. With a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world, the non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.
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source:
Patti Webster or Jacinda Chen/W&W Public Relations
732-469-5955; patti@w-wpr.com or jacinda@w-wpr.com
Hanna Pantle/BMI LA
310-289-6328; hpantle@bmi.com
