May 12, 2025

BENSON BOONE HONORED WITH THE BMI CHAMPION AWARD AT THE 2025 BMI POP AWARDS

"Lose Control" Received BMI Pop Song of the Year; Taylor Swift Named Songwriter of the Year; Universal Music Publishing Group Honored as Publisher of the Year

Evening Also Celebrated the 50 Most-Performed Pop Songs of the Previous Year

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 13, 2025) BMI paid tribute to the best in songwriting at the 2025 BMI Pop Awards held last night at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California. The GRAMMY-nominated recording artist and songwriter Benson Boone was honored with the BMI Champion Award, celebrating his global success over the last year and the impact he's made on pop music since beginning his career just a few years ago. In addition, BMI's Pop Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Publisher of the Year and BMI's top 50 most-performed pop songs in the U.S. of the previous year were also announced. The private event was hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O'Neill; VP, Worldwide Creative Barbara Cane; VP, Creative, NY Samantha Cox and VP, Creative, LA Tracie Verlinde.

As the night's top honoree, Boone was presented with the BMI Champion Award by O'Neill, who praised his "boundless talent and creativity," adding, "tonight, we celebrate you, not only for your singular songwriting and unique artistry that is igniting the world of music, but also for your dedication and passion for your craft that inspires us all."

After receiving the award, Boone thanked BMI, his team, family and the songwriters in the room, sharing "This is not my award, this is for everyone who has been a part of working on this project. To the songwriters, producers, to my mother and father… to my label to Warner Chappell, to everyone who has played a part… it takes a huge powerhouse of a team to do what I'm trying to do, and I have a wonderful team."

Boone then took to the stage for a captivating and intimate three-song performance backed by piano. He started off with "Slow it Down," followed by "Drunk in My Mind," and closed with his massive hit "Beautiful Things," which brought the audience to their feet.

Before performing his #1 single, he paid tribute to his cowriter and collaborator Jack LaFrantz, sharing, "If you're a songwriter or producing or have anything to do with the creation process of music, you understand how incredible it is when you find someone you really like to work with and work well with. I would just like to give a special thank you to Mr. Jack LaFrantz. Any of these songs that you hear you would not be hearing them without him. If you're trying to release songs, find people that you love and make it something that you love. I promise you it is the best thing ever when you find gold in the room."

In addition to his BMI Champion honor, Boone received two BMI Pop Awards for his massive hits "Beautiful Things" and "Slow It Down," with co-writer LaFrantz. He received his first BMI Pop award in 2023 for the smash hit "GHOST TOWN." Over the last year, Boone's music has accumulated nearly 10 billion streams, he's received a 2025 GRAMMY Award nomination for Best New Artist, an iHeartRadio Music Award for Song of the Year, MTV VMA and MTV EMA awards, two NRJ Music Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, three BRIT nominations, and many more.

Boone joins previous BMI Champion Award recipients, including Peso Pluma, SZA, Jonathan McReynolds, Khalid, Mark Ronson, Residente, Sebastian Krys, Keith Urban and Lee Thomas Miller.

Throughout the ceremony, the 50 most-performed pop songs of the previous year in the U.S. were also awarded, leading up to BMI's Pop Song of the Year, which went to "Lose Control" written and performed by Teddy Swims with BMI co-writers Julian Bunetta, Marco "Infamous" Rodriguez and Mikky Ekko. The smash hit has spent a record breaking 60 non-consecutive weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 top ten, reaching the number one spot in March 2024.

BMI's Pop Songwriter of the Year went to Taylor Swift for the second year in a row for penning seven of the previous year's most-performed songs, including "Don't Blame Me," "Down Bad," "Fortnight," "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart," "Is It Over Now?," "Now That We Don't Talk," and "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?." The celebrated singer/songwriter has received 72 BMI Awards, including the BMI President's Award in 2009 and the BMI Taylor Swift Award in 2016.

Universal Music Publishing Group was named Publisher of the Year for representing 28 of the previous year's most performed songs, including "Agora Hills" performed by Doja Cat to "Espresso" performed by Sabrina Carpenter and "Houdini" by Eminem, to name just a few.

BMI also welcomed 61 first time Pop Award winners, including J. Cole for "All My Life" by Lil Durk, Jesse Fink and Peter Finn for "Stargazing" performed by Myles Smith, Djo for "End of Beginning," and Nevin Sastry for "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey, among others. This also marked the first BMI Pop award for country music superstar Morgan Wallen for "I Had Some Help," co-written with Charlie Handsome and other first time BMI Pop winners Hoskins, ERNEST and Chandler Paul Walters.

ABOUT BMI:
Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, BMI® is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million 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 created 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 perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on X and Instagram @BMI or stay connected through BMI's Facebook page. Sign up for BMI's The Weekly ™ and receive our e-newsletter every week to stay up to date on all things music.

BMI Media Contacts:
Gabriella Natali
212.220.3141
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Jodie Thomas
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jthomas@bmi.com