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BMI HONORS GOSPEL’S BEST & BRIGHTEST AT THE TRAILBLAZERS OF GOSPEL MUSIC AWARDS IN LAS VEGAS

Published

8 years ago

March 26, 2018

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DONNIE MCCLURKIN PRESENTED WITH SONG OF THE YEAR FOR “I NEED YOU”

The Private Luncheon Also Recognized the Top Ten Most Performed
Gospel Songs Of 2017

March 26, 2018 (New York, NY) – BMI honored the best and brightest in gospel music at the BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music luncheon, held on March 23rd at La Cave in Las Vegas, Nevada. Renowned singer/songwriter Donnie McClurkin was awarded the event’s highest honor of Song of the Year for his hit “I Need You” which spent 58 weeks on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart. The private ceremony was hosted by BMI Vice President, Creative, Atlanta Catherine Brewton and Assistant Vice President, Creative, Los Angeles Wardell Malloy.

The uplifting event also celebrated the remarkable achievements of the gospel community recognizing the Ten Most Performed Songs of the Year (2017) from its affiliated songwriters. Those songs included “#YDIA,” written by Lucius B. Hoskins; “Better,” written by Jason Clayborn; “Father Jesus Spirit,” written and performed by Fred Hammond with co-writer Shelton Summons; “God Provides” written by Kirk Franklin; “God’s Grace” written and performed by Luther Barnes; “Hang On” written by Derrick Starks; “Never Have to Be Alone” written by Alvin Love III; “Victory Belongs to Jesus” written and performed by Todd Dulaney; “You” written and performed by Jeremy Boyd with co-writer Jermaine Dolly and “You Deserve It” written by David Bloom.

“It was an honor to recognize the work of these incredible songwriters who have touched so many with their unique gift,” said Brewton. “Their music has been a cornerstone of worship and they continue to inspire others through their songwriting.”

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IRENE MICHAELS JOINS THE RECORDING ACADEMY — AND WHAT THAT VOTE ACTUALLY MEANS

Published

7 days ago

August 25, 2026

Jimmy Star

Awards nominations tell an audience an artist’s work has been noticed. Recording Academy Voting Membership tells a different story: that the artist has been recognized as a peer within the industry itself. Irene Michaels was recently named a Voting Member of the Recording Academy — the organization behind the Grammy Awards — and the distinction carries weight well beyond a title on a bio page.

Voting Membership isn’t handed out casually. It’s reserved for performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and other creators actively working in the recording industry, and it comes with real influence: Voting Members are the people who ultimately determine Grammy nominees and winners each year. For an artist to be recognized at that level is, in effect, the industry saying her work belongs in the same conversation as the artists and professionals shaping the awards themselves.

That’s a meaningful marker for Michaels’ ongoing music career, which has moved from EPs and singles to Josie Music Award recognition and now into this kind of institutional standing. It reframes her not just as an artist building a catalog, but as a working member of the community that evaluates and honors that catalog industry-wide — someone whose judgment on music now carries an official vote.

It also adds context to everything else happening in her 2026: a triple nomination at the 12th Annual Josie Music Awards, an EP in Golden that’s earning recognition on its own merits, and a career that has spent the last several years steadily building credibility as a serious recording artist rather than a novelty comeback story. Recording Academy membership doesn’t arrive for artists still proving themselves — it arrives for artists the industry has already decided are part of it.

For Irene Michaels, whose career has spanned modeling, acting, publishing, and now music across multiple decades, the Recording Academy recognition is less a single headline than another data point in a larger pattern: an artist whose reinvention keeps being met, at every stage, with the industry taking her seriously.