BMI Honors John Oates with 2024 Troubadour Award

BMI recognized music legend, John Oates, for his mastery of the American musical landscape by presenting him with its coveted Troubadour Award on Monday, September 16. BMI’s President and CEO Mike O’ Neill alongside BMI Nashville’s VP of Creative Clay Bradley presented the prestigious accolade to Oates during a private dinner reception at BMI’s Nashville location.

“A Troubadour is someone who mixes knowledge with memories and puts that into songs to help us better understand the connections we all share,” Bradley said. “John Oates is the epitome of that. For the past 15 years, he has deepened the Americana community with his timeless albums like Arkansas and Reunion and he continues to raise the bar with music that transcends time.”

Highlights throughout the evening included performances by Bekka Bramlett (“Stand Strong”), Sam Bush (“Arkansas”), AJ Croce (“Reunion”), Wendy Moten with Rome Ramirez (“She’s Gone”), Molly Tuttle (“Out of Touch”) and Oates, who closed out the evening with the debut performance of his new song “Mending,” featuring Devon Gilfillian. Former BMI President and Chief Executive Officer, Del Bryant, spoke on Oates’ musical depth while longtime friends and collaborators highlighted his significance to the Americana community including James Burton, Roger Daltrey, Chris Epting and The War & Treaty. The evening’s band was compromised of prolific instrumentalists Tom Bukovac, Guthrie Trapp, Steve Mackey, Greg Morrow, Russ Pahl and Jimmy Wallace.

Leading into AMERICANAFEST, “Nashville’s most glorious low-key party” (Rolling Stone) reunited many BMI affiliates like Ronnie Bowman, BMI Icon Bob DiPiero, The Band Loula, SheReturnsFromWar, SistaStrings, Liz Rose and Daniel Tashian. Oates joins the ranks of past Troubadour Award recipients Billy F Gibbons and Robert Earl Keen who were in the audience last night, along with John Hiatt, John Prine and Lucinda Williams. The evening was sponsored by Dickel Bourbon, Gibson, WP Global and YETI.

Since his 1972 affiliation with BMI, Oates has been named a BMI Icon for his unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers. He has also received 10 BMI Pop Awards and 30 BMI Million-Air awards for 7x “Maneater,” 5x “I Can’t Go For That,” 3x “Out Of Touch,” 5x “Sara Smile,” 5x “She’s Gone” and 5x “You Make My Dreams Come True.” As a member of Hall & Oates he has scored 10 No. One records, over 20 Top 40 hits and have recorded 21 albums, which have sold over 80 million units, making them the most successful duo in rock history as well as members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.