Johnny McDaid will be presented with the BMI President’s Award at the 2026 BMI London Awards.
The songwriter, producer and Snow Patrol musician will be honored at a private ceremony at The Dorchester in London on September 28.
BMI announced the honor on Tuesday (August 18), with the event to be hosted by BMI CEO Mike O’Neill, EVP, Chief Revenue and Creative Officer Mike Steinberg, and VP, Worldwide Creative Barbara Cane.
The ceremony also pays tribute to the British and European songwriters and publishers behind the previous year’s most-performed songs on US streaming, radio, film, television and visual media, drawn from BMI‘s repertoire of more than 25 million musical works.
“His remarkable gift for melody and storytelling, and his ability to capture human emotion, have helped shape some of the most memorable and enduring songs of the past two decades.”
Mike Steinberg, BMI
“From his early days honing his craft on the streets of London to becoming one of the most sought-after collaborators in music, Johnny has built an extraordinary career defined by creativity, authenticity and a deep respect for the craft of songwriting,” said Steinberg.
“His remarkable gift for melody and storytelling, and his ability to capture human emotion, have helped shape some of the most memorable and enduring songs of the past two decades. We’re thrilled to honour his outstanding contributions to music with the BMI President’s Award.”
Originally from Derry, Northern Ireland, McDaid moved to London as a teenager and busked on the city’s streets before building a career as one of the industry’s most in-demand songwriters.
His songs have been recorded by Ed Sheeran, BTS, P!nk, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys, Lewis Capaldi, Jung Kook, Weezer, Shawn Mendes, David Guetta and Kelly Clarkson.
His collaborations with Sheeran include Shape of You, the first song in Spotify history to reach two billion streams.
The track has now passed five billion Spotify streams and spent 12 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, according to BMI.
It also spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, is certified 13x Platinum by the RIAA, and was named Apple Music‘s most-streamed song of the decade, BMI said.
His other Sheeran co-writes, Photograph, Shivers and Bad Habits, have reached 3.5 billion, 2.1 billion and two billion Spotify streams respectively, according to the organization.
McDaid is a two-time GRAMMY nominee and a two-time Ivor Novello winner, and holds 17 BMI Awards.
He received the BMI Pop and London Song of the Year awards in 2018 for Shape of You, and BMI London Song of the Year in 2022 for Bad Habits.
He has also earned 14 Diamond and more than 600 Platinum certifications, according to BMI.
McDaid most recently co-wrote Bottle Up for the Backstreet Boys and Animal for KATSEYE.
Animal debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Global 200, the group’s first top-10 entry on that chart.
KATSEYE, the girl group jointly developed by HYBE and Universal Music Group‘s Geffen, was named TikTok’s Global Artist of the Year for 2025.
McDaid‘s catalog has been the subject of recent dealmaking.
In January 2025, Concord acquired a portion of his publishing catalog and became his administration partner for future works.
At the 2026 BMI London Awards, McDaid joins previous President’s Award recipients including benny blanco, Luis Fonsi, Noel Gallagher, Ellie Goulding, Taylor Swift, Brian Wilson and Fraser T. Smith.
Smith received the honor at the 2025 ceremony, also held at The Dorchester.
The evening will also feature the BMI London Song of the Year, the Million-Air Awards, and awards for Pop, Theatrical Film, Streaming Series and Network Television Music.Music Business Worldwide