Zomba Smash Ultimate
Emigdio Binet
The Zomba Label Group, currently home to today's foremost Gospel labels Verity and Gospocentric Records received 22 Stellar Award nominations, it was announced today in a press conference. The Stellar Awards, the Gospel industry's most prestigious and important awards ceremony salutes excellence in Gospel field over the past year.
Zomba Label Group led the way with the most nominations and solidifies its position in the gospel marketplace as a true powerhouse with this year's 22 nods. Among the notables is top nomination-getter, Platinum recording artist Fred Hammond, who receives (6) nods for his Number 1 album "Somethin' 'Bout Love," in such categories as Artist of the Year; Song of the Year (for the smash hit "Celebrate (He Lives);" Producer of the Year and CD of the Year.
Label mate, TONEX tied Hammond with (6) of his own nominations for his Number 1 album "Out The Box." Among the nominations received by TONEX include; Song of the Year (for the stirring ballad "Make Me Over);" Contemporary CD of the Year; Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year; and Urban/Inspirational Performance of the Year. Other Verity artists receiving nominations include The Canton Spirituals; Keith Wonderboy Johnson and 7 Sons of Soul (Johnson & 7 Sons of Soul both released their debut albums with Verity in 2004). WOW Gospel, a perennial number 1 release for Verity, also continues to shine receiving its 6th nomination for Special Event CD of the Year.
Gospocentric received (6) nominations for their cutting-edge releases from outstanding talents Natalie Wilson with four nominations for her current release "The Good Life" including nods for Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year and Contemporary CD of the Year and Percy Bady, who was recognized in the Urban Inspirational and Rap/Hip Hop categories for the "The Percy Bady Experience."
The 20th Annual Stellar Awards will be taped at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX on Saturday, January 15, 2005 and will be hosted by Yolanda Adams, and Verity recording artists DONNIE McCLURKIN and TONEX.
Zomba Label Group (ZLG) is one of the industry's most dynamic record companies, and its associated labels are comprised of Jive, LaFace, So So Def, Verity, Volcano, Violator Records and GospoCentric. These labels are home to a varied group of top enter tainers, including 311, Backstreet Boys, Byron Cage, Ciara, Clipse, Jermaine Dupri, Eamon, Kirk Franklin, Buddy Guy, Anthony Hamilton, Deitrick Haddon, Fred Hammond, J-Kwon, Joe, Syleena Johnson, Kurt Carr, John P. Kee, Kelis, R. Kelly, Donnie McClurkin, Mystikal, Nivea, *NSYNC, OutKast, Petey Pablo, Pink, Britney Spears, Three Days Grace, Justin Timberlake, Tool, Usher, Hezekiah Walker and Weird Al Yankovic.
BMI staged its 54th Annual Pop Awards on May 16, with top honors given to BMI Icons Crosby, Stills & Nash; Jesse Carmichael, Ryan Dusick, Adam Levine and Mickey Madden of Maroon 5 and Lil Jon as Songwriters of the Year; "She Will Be Loved" as Song of the Year; and EMI Music as Publisher of the Year. Hosted by BMI President/ CEO Del Bryant and Los Angeles VP/GM Barbara Cane at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the black-tie dinner recognized the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most performed pop songs from BMI's catalog of more than 6.5 million compositions.
A highlight of the gala ceremony featured a musical tribute to legendary singing trio Crosby, Stills & Nash, who were honored as BMI Icons for their "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, whose signature three-part harmony has endured for more than three decades, join an elite list of previous BMI Icons that includes Paul Simon, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton and Carlos Santana.
The musical partnership of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash has produced some of the most timeless rock songs ever written, including "Marrakesh Express," "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "Helplessly Hoping," "Guinnevere," "Teach Your Children," "Wooden Ships," "Dark Star" and "Just a Song Before I Go." Called "the voice of an entire generation," CSN has just announced a summer reunion tour with Neil Young.
Pop-rockers Maroon 5 were joined on stage by rapper Lil Jon to collect their BMI Songwriter of the Year Crystals for placing three songs each on the most performed list of 50. The trio of tracks earning Maroon 5 members Jesse Carmichael, Ryan Dusick, Adam Levine and Mickey Madden the prestigious title were "Sunday Morning," their two-time BMI Pop Award-winning smash, "This Love," and Song of the Year "She Will Be Loved."
Lil Jon picked up his third Songwriter of the Year win - he was both BMI's top Pop and Urban writer in 2005 - for penning "Lovers and Friends" (Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Usher & Ludacris), "Goodies" (Ciara featuring Petey Pablo) and "Salt Shaker" (Ying Yang Twins featuring Lil Jon), the latter two of which also made the list of top songs at the 2005 BMI Urban Awards. He was also honored at that ceremony as writer of the Song of the Year ("Yeah!"), as well as named one of BMI's Top 10 Urban Producers.
Included on Maroon 5's multi-platinum debut, Songs About Jane, "She Will Be Loved" was named BMI Pop Song of the Year for scoring the most airplay of any song on the most performed list during the award period. Co-written by the band's four BMI members, and published by Careers-BMG Music Publishing and February Twenty-Second Music, "She Will Be Loved" earned Maroon 5 their second Grammy this past February for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; they were named Best New Artist the previous year.
EMI Music Publishing (EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc./EMI-Hastings Catalog, Inc./Stone Diamond Music) claimed its second consecutive BMI Pop Publisher of the Year prize with 18 songs on the top 50 list, giving the publishing giant the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. EMI Chairman & CEO Martin Bandier accepted the company's 11th BMI Pop Publisher Crystal.
In addition to the Song of the Year, BMI also recognized the performance achievements of two other songs: "Beverly Hills" earned Most Performed Song on College Radio kudos for songwriter Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and publisher E.O. Smith Music, and "1, 2 Step," written by BMI Top 10 Urban Producer Jazze Pha and published by Bubba Gee Music, Noontime Tunes and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., received BMI's very first Internet Song of the Year award by tallying the most hits on BMI-licensed web sites during the award period.
Three other songs besides "This Love" took home a second BMI Pop Award, including "Heaven" by Los Lonely Boys, which also won last year; D.H.T.'s version of "Listen to Your Heart," which earned a Pop Award in 1990 for the recording by Roxette; and the Hall & Oates remake of "I'll Be Around," which won a Pop Award in 1972 for the original Spinners hit written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt.
Songwriters Gavin DeGraw, Kara DioGuardi, George Pajon, Jr., will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, and Full Force members Paul Anthony, Baby Gerry, B-Fine, Bowlegged Lou, Curt-T-T and Shy Shy each scored two BMI Pop Awards, while publishers Careers-BMG Music Publishing/Zomba Songs, Cherry River Music Co., Dimensional Songs of the Knoll, El Cubano Music, Ensign Music LLC, February Twenty-Second Music, Forceful Music/Mokojumbi Music, G. DeGraw Music, Inc., K'Stuff Publishing, Songs of TVT, Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group (Songs of Universal, Inc./Irving Music), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Waters of Nazareth Publishing and will.i.am music, inc. were each cited for multiple award-winning songs.
Another of the ceremony's highlights included a special presentation to 21-year-old Catawba College student Dennis E. Reed, Jr., first place winner of the BMI Foundation's 9th Annual John Lennon Scholarship Awards. The Charlotte, North Carolina native, who got to share the stage with some of music's biggest stars, went home with a $10,000 scholarship for his song, "Out of Control." Established in 1997 by Yoko Ono in conjunction with the BMI Foundation and matched by generous donations from Gibson Musical Instruments, the John Lennon Scholarship program recognizes the talent of young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24.
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