GAMBLE & HUFF NAMED BMI ICONS AT 57th ANNUAL POP AWARDS

Leading music rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) held its 57th Annual Pop Awards on May 19, 2009, honoring Gamble & Huff as BMI Icons. Held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, the invitation-only ceremony was hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and BMI Vice President/General Manager, Los Angeles, Barbara Cane and also recognized the writers and publishers of the past year’s 50 most-performed pop songs. The evening’s capstone was a musical tribute to Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. Gavin DeGraw sang “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” Estelle performed “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” and Michael Bublé delivered his rendition of “Me and Mrs. Jones.” Named BMI Icons in recognition of their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers,” Gamble & Huff join an elite list of previous BMI Icons that includes the Jacksons, Bee Gees, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Paul Simon, Merle Haggard, Brian Wilson, Willie Nelson, James Brown, Ray Davies, Carlos Santana, Dolly Parton, and Hall & Oates.

Their career output of over 3,000 songs places them among the most prolific professional songwriters of all time. Gamble and Huff continue to write and produce, with their most recent production the Labelle “Back To Now” album. On September 19, 2005, Gamble and Huff were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding achievements at a ceremony held in New York City. In 2008, Gamble and Huff were the first recipients of the newly created :Ahmet Ertegun Award" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 375,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music and more than 6.5 million works. BMI reported $901 million for its 2008 fiscal year in performing right collections. BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world for 70 years. The U.S. corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.