Sting to be honoured with BMI award
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Sting is to be honoured with the BMI Icon at the Broadcast Music Inc’s London awards to be held on 10th October. The accolade is in recognition of his contribution to pop music for over 40 years. Sting will be following previous UK acts namely Graham Gouldman (10 CC & Wax), Sir Tim Rice, Queen, Ray Davis (The Kinks),Sir Van Morrison and Bryan Ferry. The 64 year old bass player songwriter and singer’s success was propelled as a member of the band Police and later as a solo artist. As a member of Police he won an Ivor Novello, six Grammy Awards and two Brit Awards. With the group he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. As a solo artist Sting whose real name is Gordon Sumner won 10 Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, a Golden Globe award and an Emmy Award. The Queen awarded him with a CBE in 2003. Meanwhile his first solo album in 13 years titled ‘57th & 9th’ will be released on November 11.One of pop music’s most colourful figures Sir Elton John has hinted on retirement as his 70th birthday draws closer in March 2017. He told a UK TV show on Sept. 19 that while his voice is getting better with age, he wants to retire by passing on the baton to the next generation of musicians. Meanwhile Sir Elton has raised more than £153 million to mark the occasion for his AIDS foundation for work related to HIV awareness.
Justin Timberlake may no longer be a teenybopper’s pop star, but nevertheless the 35 year old attracts crowds for his concerts. For his forthcoming UK concert to be held on October 3 at London’s O2 Arena, 2800 tickets were sold out in 45 minutes on Sept. 15 after a radio message was made.
As the US pop band Chainsmokers hold on to the No:1 spot on the UK singles chart for a third consecutive with combined sales of 89,000, the biggest and highest track to debut on the chart has been Sia’s ‘Greatest’. The song features Kendrick Lamar and is widely seen as a tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting in the US. The pop track is the debut release from Sia’s next album ‘We Are Your Children’. Sia broke on to the pop music scene globally when she was 35 years old and today at the age of 40 sounds very relevant. ‘The Greatest’ is the Australian singer’s third UK top 10 hit. She has scored four more top 10 songs as a featured artist. On ‘The Greatest’ Kendrick Lamar is the featured vocalist.
The reggae fusion/R&B song ‘Side To Side’ by Ariande Grande has surged up the UK singles chart from 24 to No: 8 this week. The song came out on August 30 and is the 3rd release from Grande’s album ‘Dangerous Woman’. It is the second time Grande has recorded with Minaj.
