BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), the global leader in rights management, proudly announces that the multiplatinum superstar, Janet Jackson will be named a BMI Icon during the 2018 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards. The event will be held Thursday, August 30th at The Woodruff Arts Center’s Symphony Hall in Atlanta. It will be hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President Creative (Atlanta), Catherine Brewton.
“As one of the most influential entertainers of all time, Janet Jackson’s artistry and music transcends generations and has inspired many with messages of empowerment that can be heard throughout her rich catalog of music,” said Brewton. “She is the definition of an icon, and I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honor.”
A very limited, elite group of recipients have received BMI’s Icon Award, and now Jackson will be joining them. Past recipients have included Patti LaBelle, Nile Rodgers, James Brown, Snoop Dogg and Al Green among others. They were recognized for their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Throughout her groundbreaking career, Jackson has sold more than 160 million records worldwide and scored seven No. 1 albums. She is the only artist in Billboard’s history to have three different albums— Control, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 and janet.—each resulting in five or more top ten hits on the Hot 100 chart. Jackson also is one of only four artists, alongside Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, and U2, to have earned No. 1 albums in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
Alongside her two Emmy nominations, she has also received a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination and garnered six GRAMMY® Awards along with dozens of American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, including this year’s Billboard Icon Award which was her first televised performance in nine years. Additionally, Jackson has a series of upcoming summer performances that kick off July 8th in New Orleans at the ESSENCE Festival and go through August 12th in San Francisco at the Outside Lands Music Festival.
Throughout the evening, BMI will also salute the songwriters, producers, publishers and administrators of the past year’s 35 most-performed R&B/Hip-Hop songs in the United States from BMI’s repertoire of more than 13 million musical works. The BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter, Producer and Publisher of the Year will be named during the ceremony.
BMI has celebrated over 77 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®). BMI is a global leader in music rights management, and serves as an advocate for the value of music. They represent the public performance rights in nearly 13 million musical works created and owned by more than 800,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI established a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to classic favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year.
