BMI Pop Awards were held on Tuesday, May 8 in Beverly Hills, California. 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 ar was hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill; VP, Worldwide Creative Barbara Cane; VP, Creative, NY Samantha Cox and VP, Creative, LA Tracie VerlindeAfter 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 Thing”
He received his first BMI Pop award in 2023 for the smash hit “Ghostown.” Over the last year, Boone’s music has accumulated nearly 10 billion streams, he’s received a 2025 GRAMMY Award nomination for and many more.
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 artist 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.