Adele, Drake and Sam Smith collaborator Fraser T. Smith will collect the BMI President’s Award at the 2025 BMI London Awards, which will be held at The Dorchester in London on Sept. 29.
The award is presented by the collection society to recognise Smith’s extensive body of work as a songwriter and producer. Previous recipients of the prize include benny blanco, Luis Fonsi, Noel Gallagher, Ludacris, P!nk, Willie Nelson, Pitbull, T-Pain, Taylor Swift and Brian Wilson.
The BMI London Awards honors British and European songwriters and publishers of the previous year’s most-performed songs on U.S. streaming, radio, film, television and visual media from BMI’s repertoire of more than 22.4 million musical works.
Smith was listed as a producer on Adele’s 2011 album 21, which scooped album of the year at the Grammys the following year. Smith has co-written, mixed and produced seven No. 1 singles on the Official U.K. Singles Chart and two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s: Taio Cruz’s Break Your Heart” (2010) and Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” (2011).
Smith also contributed to In the Lonely Album, the debut album by Sam Smith (no relation), which was nominated for album of the year at the 2015 Grammys, and Stormzy’s BRIT and Ivor Novello-winning debut album, Gang Signs & Prayer (2018).
Smith’s work with British rapper Dave has earned the pair two Ivor Novello songwriting awards, first with “Question Time” (2018) and again with “Black” (2020). Drake jumped on a remix of Dave’s “Wanna Know” in 2016, which features a songwriting and production credit for Smith.
Smith has also released records under the moniker Future Utopia, most recently 2024’s Django’s High.
“Fraser T. Smith is widely recognized as one of the UK’s most influential and sought-after producers and songwriters, whose musical contributions and ability to span genres created some of the most impactful songs of our generation,” BMI president & chief executive Mike O’Neill said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to commemorate his illustrious career as an acclaimed collaborator and a solo artist with the BMI President’s Award. We’re also excited to celebrate our BMI family of award-winning songwriters and composers and recognize their musical achievements over the last year.”
