ROXY MUSIC - FERRY NAMED BMI ICON

FERRY NAMED BMI ICON

ROXY MUSIC frontman BRYAN FERRY has been honoured for his prolific songwriting skills at London's BMI Awards.
The rocker was named BMI Icon at Tuesday's (07Oct08) ceremony, which celebrates the most played songs on U.S. radio and television.
Ferry joins previous winners such as Peter Gabriel, Van Morrison and Ray Davies as a BMI Icon.
BMI President and CEO Del Bryant paid tribute to Ferry, describing him as "the epitome of Britishness and the ultimate combination of rock god and matinee idol".
As he accepted his award, Ferry said: "I'm very honoured to be part of your tradition of music because there are so many artists you have represented who are great idols for me throughout my career."
R+B hitmaker Ne-Yo was presented with the Robert S Musel Award for Beyonce Knowles' single Irreplaceable, which was named Song of the Year.
Another track recorded by Knowles, Beautiful Liar, her duet with Shakira, was a winner at the U.S. organisation's annual dinner - writer Ian Dench was handed the Amanda Ghost award for the song.
Other winners included pop star Lily Allen, who won a prize for her hit single Smile, and British R+B singer/songwriter Jay Sean, who was praised for helping to pen High School Musical star Corbin Bleu's song Deal With It.