BMI announced today that GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter and producer Babyface will receive the BMI Icon Award at the 2024 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, on Thursday, September 5. This honor recognizes his impressive career, marked by a formidable catalog of hit songs that have transcended generations and connected with audiences around the globe. In addition, GRAMMY Award-winning singer/songwriter SZA will be presented with the BMI Champion Award in honor of her dedication and efforts in fostering the next generation of music creators. Hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and Vice President, Creative, Atlanta, Catherine Brewton, the private event will return to Los Angeles, CA for the first time in nearly ten years to be held at Fairmont Century Plaza.
“We’re excited to honor the legendary Babyface with the BMI Icon Award in celebration of his incredible talent and gift of prolific songwriting which has influenced decades of hits amongst all genres,” said Brewton. “We’ll also recognize the exceptional industry-shifting career of SZA, who challenges conventions and has a unique vibe that continues to transform and inspire a new feel of R&B that we have grown to love. It will be a phenomenal night of music celebrating BMI’s award-winning songwriters, producers, and music publishers that we’re so fortunate to represent.”
Throughout the evening, BMI will also salute the songwriters, producers and music publishers of the past year’s 35 most-performed R&B/Hip-Hop songs from BMI’s repertoire of more than 22.4 million musical works. The BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter, Top Producers, Producer and Publisher of the Year will also be named during the ceremony.
As one of the most sought-after songwriters and producers of our time, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds has contributed to over 800 million records sold and over 800 billion streams and has worked with the biggest names in music like Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, Kenny G, Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Ariana Grande, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, and Barbra Streisand to name a few. As the co-founder of the legendary LaFace Records, he’s helped launch the careers of Toni Braxton, P!nk, TLC, Outkast, Usher and more. He has also released three consecutive multi-platinum albums as a solo artist, including Tender Lover, For the Cool in You, and The Day, and in 2023, his most recent single, “As a matter of fact” reached #1 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart, marking his first chart-topping single in 26 years.
Throughout his illustrious career spanning nearly five decades, Babyface has received many accolades including multiple American Music, Soul Train, and NAACP Image awards, and secured his 13th GRAMMY win in 2024 for Best R&B Song for “Snooze” by SZA. He received 63 BMI Awards and Song of the Year three times, BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year seven times and, together with his LaFace Records co-founder L.A. Reid, was named a BMI Icon in 2006. In addition, Babyface has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and The Apollo Walk of Fame, where he received the inaugural Legacy Award.
As the 2024 BMI Icon honoree, Babyface joins an elite group of music creators who have received BMI’s highest honor including James Brown, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Janet Jackson, Patti LaBelle, LA Reid, Nile Rodgers, Snoop Dogg, The Jacksons, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne and more.
SZA is a GRAMMY Award-winning singer/songwriter who continues to set a new standard on creativity and songwriting by defying genres and shattering records with over 10 billion streams worldwide. In 2017, she released her major label debut album, Ctrl, to critical acclaim, launching SZA into stardom by landing at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart, No. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart, and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for 371 weeks, the longest run for any Black female artist’s debut album. The RIAA-certified 3x Platinum album received five GRAMMY nominations, including Best New Artist. In 2022, she released her long-awaited sophomore effort SOS, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and spent ten non-consecutive weeks on top. With the release of SOS, SZA peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart as the most popular artist across all musical genres, and No. 1 on the Hot 100 Songwriters chart. She also secured the most RIAA certifications of 2023 with 15 titles, including Top Album with 3x Platinum going to SOS and Top Single with 5x Platinum “Kill Bill.” SZA closed out 2023 as the most GRAMMY nominated artist of the year, subsequently winning Best Progressive R&B Album, Best Pop/Duo/Group Performance for “Ghost in the Machine,” and Best R&B Song for “Snooze.”
Over her impressive career, SZA has received four GRAMMY Awards, a Golden Globe nomination, and an Academy Award nomination. She has earned 10 BMI Awards, one American Music Award, six Billboard Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, six BET Awards, including Best New Artist in 2018 and Album of the Year in 2023 and received Billboard’s Women in Music Rule Breaker Award in 2019. In 2023, SZA was crowned the Woman of the Year at the Billboard’s Women in Music Awards, named Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year, WSJ. Magazine’s Music Innovator of the Year and received R&B Artist of the Year and R&B Song of the Year for “I Hate U” at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. In 2024, she received the Hal David Starlight Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In receiving this honor, SZA joins previous BMI Champion Award recipients including Inflo, Khalid, Mark Ronson, Residente, Sebastian Krys, Keith Urban and Lee Thomas Miller, who were honored for their commitment and efforts supporting the next generation of songwriters and music makers.
Sylvester 
