Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Stoller will be honored as BMI Icons at the 2022 BMI Pop Awards, set for Tuesday, May 10 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Both songwriters are members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in fact have each received that organization’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award. Both also are Grammy winners – Sager for song of the year for co-writing (with Burt Bacharach) “That’s What Friends Are For”; Stoller for best musical show album for Smokey Joe’s Cafe – The Songs of Leiber & Stoller. Sager has received 26 BMI Awards, including pop songwriter of the year in 1977. Stoller has amassed a whopping 57.
“BMI is thrilled to be honoring two iconic songwriters,” Barbara Cane, BMI’s vice president worldwide creative, said in a statement. “As we commemorate BMI’s 70th Pop Awards, we pay homage to the craft of these two musical legends and their timeless contributions to BMI and the Great American Songbook.”
Trending on Billboard
Sager wrote the lyrics to such songs as “Nobody Does It Better,” “A Groovy Kind of Love,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” and the Oscar-winning “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do).” Sager has also received two Golden Globe Awards.
Stoller and his long-time collaborator Jerry Leiber wrote more than 20 songs for Elvis Presley, including “Hound Dog,” “Love Me,” and “Jailhouse Rock,” and wrote and produced all of The Coasters’ hits, such as “Yakety Yak” and “Poison Ivy.” Other classics written by the pair include “Love Potion Number 9,” “I’m A Woman,” and “Is That All There Is?” as well as “On Broadway,” co-written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and “Stand by Me,” co-written with Ben E. King.
Other accolades for Stoller include being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1987), a Trustees Award from the Recording Academy (1999), and an Ivor Novello International Songwriters Award (2000).
Sager and Stoller join an elite group of songwriters who have received BMI’s highest honor. Previous recipients include Barry Manilow, the Bee Gees, Brian Wilson, Carlos Santana, Carole King, Crosby, Stills & Nash, David Foster, Dolly Parton, the Jacksons, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Merle Haggard, Nile Rodgers, Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks, Sting and Willie Nelson.
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 will also be named at the 2022 BMI Pop Awards. The private event will be hosted by Mike O’Neill, BMI president and CEO, and Cane.