BMI honored Fraser T. Smith with the BMI President’s Award at the 2025 BMI London Awards. 

The award was presented to Smith in recognition of the breadth of his work as a producer and songwriter. Previous recipients of the prize include Taylor Swift, Noel Gallagher, Luis Fonsi, Ludacris, P!nk, Willie Nelson, T-Pain, Ellie Goulding and Brian Wilson.

The private event, held by the collection society at The Dorchester in London last night (Sept. 29), was hosted by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill and EVP, chief revenue & creative officer Mike Steinberg. 

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.”

In his acceptance speech, Smith thanked the artists, writers and producers that he has worked with throughout his career, describing them as “the creative cornerstone of everything that I do.”

He continued: “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.”

As part of the honoree tribute, Kae Tempest performed “Prayers To Whisper” and “I Stand on the Line,” both of which were co-written and produced by Smith and appear on the spoken-word artist’s 2025 LP Self-Titled.

Smith has co-written, mixed and produced seven No. 1 singles on the Official U.K. Singles Chart and two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s: Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart” (2010) and Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” (2011). He was also listed as a producer on the latter’s 2011 album 21, which landed album of the year at the Grammys the following year.

The 54-year-old has contributed to records by the likes of Drake, Florence + The Machine, Gorillaz, Dave, Stormzy and Sam Smith. He has received three Ivor Novello awards alongside many other accolades.

The BMI London Awards honors British and European songwriters and publishers of the previous year’s most-performed songs on U.S. streaming, radio, film, television and visual media from BMI’s repertoire.

During the ceremony, BMI Million-Air Awards were presented to the songwriters and publishers whose works have surpassed one million broadcast performances on U.S. radio. Among the songs honored were “Every Breath You Take” written by Sting of The Police (20 million), “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones (11 million), and “Take on Me” by Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Pål Waaktaar of A-ha (10 million).

Awards for the most-performed pop, film, television and streaming songs were also unveiled. Recipients 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; and “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, and “Turn Yo Clic Up” written by Sluzyyy, Atake, Macshooter, Baso Beats and performed by Future and Quavo, were also awarded. 

Atli Örvarsson won seven awards for his work in network television and streaming for Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P. D., FBI, FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted and Apple TV’s Silo, bringing his total to 54 BMI awards.

Other composers recognized include Tom Howe for Paramount+ series Knuckles and Apple TV’s Shrinking, while Sola Akingbola received a BMI network TV award for Bob Hearts Abishola. BMI theatrical film awards went to Harry Gregson-Williams for Gladiator II and Hildur Guðnadóttir for her work on Joker: Folie à Deux.

A complete list of 2025 winners will soon be available on the BMI London Awards’ website.

Sean “Diddy” Combs deserves 11 years in prison, federal prosecutors say, citing “decades of abuse” by the “unrepentant” rap mogul – and a letter from Cassie Ventura calling him a “cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man.”

In court filings late Monday, prosecutors urged Judge Arun Subramanian to impose a prison term of “no less than 135 months” following the June verdict, where Combs was acquitted of more serious sex trafficking charges but convicted on lesser prostitution charges.

Diddy’s lawyers have asked the judge to reject such “draconian” punishment and release him almost immediately, citing the partial acquittal. But the feds say he still deserves a lengthy sentence after the trial revealed years of “unchecked violence” by the rapper.

“The defendant tries to recast decades of abuse as simply the function of mutually toxic relationships,” prosecutors wrote. “But there is nothing mutual about a relationship where one person holds all the power and the other ends up bloodied and bruised.”

Notably, the filing included a sworn statement by Ventura, the star’s ex-girlfriend and primary alleged victim. In it, she urged the judge to disregard claims by defense attorneys that Diddy is a “changed man” who deserves a second chance.

“I know that who he was to me — the manipulator, the aggressor, the abuser, the trafficker — is who he is as a human,” Ventura wrote. “He has no interest in changing or becoming better. He will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.”

Combs was arrested and charged in September 2024 with racketeering (RICO) and sex trafficking violations over accusations that he ran a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating “freak-offs” — elaborate events which he allegedly forced Ventura and other women to have sex with male escorts while he watched and masturbated.

Following a blockbuster trial this spring, jurors cleared Combs on the RICO and sex trafficking charges that could have seen him sentenced to prison for life. But he was still convicted on two other counts for transporting Ventura and others across state lines for the purposes of prostitution.

With sentencing set for Friday, Diddy’s lawyers asked last week for a 14-month sentence, which would see him released almost immediately thanks to time-served. They argued the judge must take into account that the star was cleared of the ugliest charges.

“The government accused Sean Combs of heinous crimes. It branded him an evil trafficker and racketeer who coerced and defrauded his girlfriends into having sex against their will. But none of that was true,” his lawyers write. “Put simply, the jury has spoken.”

But in Monday’s response, prosecutors said the judge can still take into account Diddy’s overall history of violence and the way he committed his prostitution offenses.

“The defendant will not be punished for any crimes of which he was acquitted, of course, but punishment for his crimes of conviction must take into account the manner in which he committed them,” the feds wrote. “Defendants who perpetrate violations of the Mann Act involving such violence and fear regularly face significant penalties.”

Cat Stevens has postponed the North American leg of his book tour in support of his memoir Cat On the Road to Find Out due to what he said were visa issues. According to an Instagram post from the singer who now goes by Yusuf, the tour slated to kick off on Thursday (Oct. 2) at the Met in Philadelphia, “Sadly, my Cat on the Road to Findout Book Tour in the U.S. and Canada looks like it won’t go ahead as scheduled in October.”

Without getting into the details of why or how his paperwork was impacted Stevens added, “Waiting months for visa approvals, we held out as long as we could. However, at this point, the production logistics necessary for my show cannot be arranged in time. I am really upset! Not least for my fans who have bought tickets and made travel plans to see me perform.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame star tried to keep a positive attitude about it, saying that the tour delays “should not affect the book, which you’ll still be able to enjoy… the obvious benefit of it being — books don’t need visas!”; the book will hit shelves in the U.S. on Thursday. Earlier this month, Stevens warned fans that the North American tour was in “serious jeopardy” due to “significant delays in U.S. immigration processing.”

Stevens promised that North American fans may still get a chance to see the tour if the visa approvals eventually come through, though those dates could be further in the future because of his other travel plans. “But, hopefully, fans will be able to hop on the Peace Train route at some time in the future.”

Other scotched, for now, shows include stops at the Boch Centre Wang Theatre in Boston, as well as stops in Toronto, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Stevens is the latest foreign artist bit by a reported slowdown in processing visa applications and the Trump administration’s slow-walking of the process, which has resulted in a number of overseas acts cancelling or postponing tours this year and the loss of millions in revenue for Latin artists due to the White House’s immigration crackdown.

Lainey Wilson, who co-hosted last year’s CMA Awards with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, will host this year’s show all by herself. She will become just the third woman to solo-host the show, following country queens Dolly Parton (1988) and Reba McEntire (1991).

Twice as many men have solo-hosted the show: Tennessee Ernie Ford (twice), Glen Campbell (once), Johnny Cash (four times), Kenny Rogers (three times), Vince Gill (10 times) and Luke Bryan (once).

Country Music’s Biggest Night, the show’s trademarked slogan, is set to broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 19 (8-11 p.m. ET) on ABC. It will be available the following day on Hulu.

Wilson has won nine CMA Awards in the last three years, including female vocalist of the year three years running. She is tied with Ella Langley and Megan Moroney for the most nominations at this year’s awards (six each).

“I grew up watching the CMA Awards like it was the Super Bowl, so to be hosting for a second year is a true honor,” Wilson said in a statement. “I’m humbled that CMA has trusted me with this role, and I can’t wait to love on this genre that has given me so much.”

First held in 1967, the CMA Awards is the longest-running annual music awards program on network television. CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by more than 7,000 professional voting members of the Country Music Association.

The 59th annual CMA Awards is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton serves as executive producer, Alan Carter is director, and Jon Macks is head writer.

Tickets are on sale now the CMA Awards site.