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

BMI honored producer and songwriter Fraser T. Smith with its President’s Award during the 2025 BMI London Awards, held at The Dorchester on the evening of September 29. The accolade recognizes Smith’s expansive body of work and longstanding influence as a creative force in contemporary music.

The private ceremony, organized by the collection society, was hosted by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill alongside EVP and chief revenue & creative officer Mike Steinberg. O’Neill praised Smith’s cultural impact, saying that exceptional producers do more than shape songs — they help define the sound of a generation.

In his acceptance remarks, Smith paid tribute to the artists, songwriters and producers he has collaborated with, calling them “the creative cornerstone” of his career. He reflected on a 25-year journey of apprenticeship and growth, describing music as both his vocation and refuge.

As part of the evening’s tribute, Kae Tempest performed “Prayers To Whisper” and “I Stand on the Line,” two tracks co-written and produced by Smith that appear on Tempest’s 2025 LP Self-Titled.

Smith’s commercial achievements include seven No. 1 singles on the Official U.K. Singles Chart and two Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers: Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart” (2010) and Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” (2011). He is credited as a producer on Adele’s 2011 album 21, which won album of the year at the 2012 Grammys. Over his career, the 54-year-old producer has worked with artists such as Drake, Florence + The Machine, Gorillaz, Dave, Stormzy and Sam Smith, and he has received three Ivor Novello awards among other honors.

The BMI London Awards celebrate British and European songwriters and publishers whose compositions were among the most-performed in the U.S. across streaming, radio, film, television and visual media during the prior year. The ceremony also includes BMI Million-Air recognitions for works that have surpassed one million U.S. radio performances.

Among the Million-Air honorees were Sting’s “Every Breath You Take” (credited at 20 million broadcasts); The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (11 million); and A-ha’s “Take on Me” by Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Pål Waaktaar (10 million).

Awards for the most-performed songs across pop, film, television and streaming included honors for “360” (written by Finn Keane, A.G. Cook, Omer Fedi and Blake Slatkin; performed by Charli XCX), Beabadoobee’s “Glue Song,” and Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor,” co-written with Gregg Alexander.

Other notable winners announced at the event included Hozier’s “Too Sweet” (co-written with Stuart Johnson, Pete G and Daniel Bekon) and “Turn Yo Clic Up” (written by Sluzyyy, Atake, Macshooter and Baso Beats; performed by Future and Quavo).

Composer Atli Örvarsson was recognized with seven awards for his work across network television and streaming — credits include Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., FBI, FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted and Apple TV’s Silo — bringing his career total to 54 BMI awards. Additional composer honors went to Tom Howe for work on Paramount+’s Knuckles and Apple TV’s Shrinking, and to Sola Akingbola for the sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola. BMI theatrical film awards were presented to Harry Gregson-Williams for Gladiator II and to Hildur Guðnadóttir for Joker: Folie à Deux.

For the full list of winners, visit the BMI London Awards section on BMI’s official website.

See the complete list of 2025 winners on BMI.com

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