The BMI London Awards recognize the U.K. and European songwriters and publishers of the past year’s most-performed songs on radio and television in the United States. The performing rights organization collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it distributes as royalties to songwriters, composers & music publishers.
The BBC reports Brian May and Roger Taylor were at London’s Dorchester Hotel in person to collect the Icon Award.
"I'm very, very happy," May told BBC6 Music News. "It means a lot, I think, especially because it is an American award and, although we were married to America for a long time, we never really did much in terms of awards. We're not bursting with Grammys, so it's nice to have that tribute from our peers."
Brian also revealed that there are two Queen films in the pipeline: "One is about Freddie [Mercury], and one is the movie version of We Will Rock You. Plus we uncle the We Will Rock You shows around the world. We keep very much hands on on those things, and there just seems to be endless stuff to do."
May added: "Both films are really in the early stages, but we have good scripts in each case…it's just a case of putting everything else together."
The band might be auditioning youthful Queen impersonators for a tribute tour but that looks to be the only tour on the cards at the moment.
"It's impossible to say whether we'd go out on the road again," May explained. "We talk about it all the time but we have a bit of a singer problem, to put it mildly. We did our stuff with Paul Rodgers, which I think was fabulous at its best, and we are still very good friends with Paul, but I don't think any of us really feel like we want to go down that route again at this point in time. You can never say never, but at this point, our heads are in different directions."
BMI honors songwriters who have had “a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers” as Icons. Queen’s Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon join a list of past honorees that includes 2010 recipient Don Black, Van Morrison, Donovan, the Bee Gees, James Brown, Willie Nelson, and more.
Queen Queen – Radio Ga Ga
Live Aid
Wembley Stadium – London, UK - July 13, 1985
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