Grammy-winning producer, songwriter and musician Fraser T. Smith was honoured with the BMI President’s Award at the 2025 BMI London Awards on Monday (September 29).
The annual event, held at The Dorchester in London and hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and EVP, Chief Revenue & Creative Officer Mike Steinberg, recognized British and European songwriters, composers, producers and publishers of the most-performed works across film, television, streaming and radio in the U.S. over the past year.
Smith’s three-decade career includes collaborations with Adele, Drake, Sam Smith, Stormzy, Snow Patrol, Craig David, Florence and the Machine, Gorillaz, Kano and Kae Tempest. He has earned seven UK No.1 singles, two US Billboard No.1s, and contributions to 20 chart-topping albums. His accolades include three Ivor Novello Awards and a Grammy for his work on Adele’s 21.
O’Neill presented Smith with the BMI President’s Award, saying: “You are a testament to the fact that the best producers don’t just shape songs, they help shape and define culture…. We thank you for enriching the world of music, today and long into the future.”
Upon receiving the award, Smith paid tribute to his collaborators: “The artists, writers, producers and engineers that I work with in the studio are the creative cornerstone of everything that I do. I feel as though I’ve literally been standing on the shoulders of giants for 25 years learning from these brilliant people. Making music has always been an escape for me, and I couldn’t imagine my life without it.”
“Making music has always been an escape for me, and I couldn’t imagine my life without it.”
Fraser T. Smith
The evening also featured a performance by Kae Tempest, accompanied by Leah Cleaver and Smith himself, of two tracks from Tempest’s 2025 album Self-Titled, which Smith co-wrote and produced, including Prayers to Whisper and I Stand On The Line.
Smith joins previous BMI President’s Award recipients, including Taylor Swift, P!nk, Willie Nelson, Imagine Dragons, Noel Gallagher, Ellie Goulding, Ludacris, Brian Wilson, and others.
Elsewhere in the ceremony, BMI London Song of the Year went to “I Had Some Help,” written by Hoskins, Charlie Handsome, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen and Chandler Paul Walters. Performed by Wallen and Post Malone, the track debuted at No.1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts in 2024.
BMI Million-Air Awards were presented to songs surpassing one million broadcast performances on U.S. radio. Among the works recognised were:
- Every Breath You Take written by Sting (20 million)
- (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones (11 million)
- Take On Me, by Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Pål Waaktaar of a-ha (10 million)
- What’s Love Got To Do With It written by 2024 BMI Icon Graham Lyle (9 million)
- It Must Have Been Love, by Per Gessle of Roxette (7 million)
- True written by 2023 BMI Icon Gary Kemp (6 million)
- Set Fire To The Rain, co-written by 2025 BMI President’s Award honouree Fraser T. Smith and performed by Adele (5 million).
Awards across the Most-Performed Songs and Film/TV/Visual Media categories highlighted works from the past year’s top-grossing films and series. Winners included:
- 360 written by Finn Keane, A.G. Cook, Omer Fedi, Blake Slatkin and performed by Charli xcx;
- Glue Song written and performed by beabadoobee
- Murder on the Dancefloor written and performed by Sophie Ellis-Bextor with co-writer Gregg Alexander
- Too Sweet written and performed by Hozier with co-writers Stuart Johnson, Pete G, and Daniel Bekon
- Turn Yo Clic Up written by Sluzyyy, Atake, Macshooter, Baso Beats and performed by Future and Quavo.
Composer Atli Örvarsson won seven awards for his work on Chicago Fire, FBI and Silo, bringing his career total to 54 BMI honors. Tom Howe collected two awards for Knuckles and Shrinking, while Sola Akingbola was recognized with a BMI Network TV Award for Bob Hearts Abishola.
In the film category, BMI Theatrical Film Awards went to Harry Gregson-Williams for Gladiator II and Hildur Guðnadóttir for Joker: Folie à Deux.
A full list of 2025 BMI London Award winners will be published here.Music Business Worldwide