Nashville Celebrates Keith Urban’s 17th Chart-Topper

Pictured (L-R): Kent Earls (Universal Music Group), Mike Dungan (Capitol Nashville), Jody Williams (BMI), LeAnn Phelan (ASCAP), Dann Huff (producer), David Preston (BMI), seated: Keith Urban (singer-songwriter), JT Harding (songwriter)

Music industry members gathered yesterday (March 18) at Nashville’s Musicians Hall of Fame to celebrate Keith Urban’s 17th No. 1 single, “Somewhere In My Car.” The soiree was presented by ASCAP and BMI, in honor of ASCAP writer JT Harding, BMI writer Urban, as well as the song’s producer Dann Huff.

Publishers/administrators on the song include Songs of Universal, Mary Rose Music, Heavy Metal Disco, Mighty Seven, and Songs of SMP.

The afternoon began with a performance of “Somewhere In My Car” by Urban, followed by songwriter tributes from ASCAP’s LeAnn Phelan and BMI’s Jody Williams.

“The Nashville community knows JT as a songwriter, but there is so much more to know,” Phelan said of Harding. “He’s written three No. 1 smashes in country so far and we can’t forget the awesome song ‘Smile’ by Uncle Kracker that he co-wrote. This Detroit native also has a career as a rock star, indie film actor, he’s toured Afghanistan playing for the troops, and he has a Broadway musical under his belt. This past summer, the musical ‘Somewhere With You’ played 14 shows in New York’s musical theater festival on Broadway. It featured 17 of his songs, and now there are talks of a longer run on Broadway. He’s the only guy I know who stands up during his guitar solos at the Bluebird Café.”

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 14 years since he celebrated his first No. 1 with ‘But For The Grace of God,” said BMI’s Williams. “In that time, his BMI catalog has generated some amazing stats. Today we present to Keith his latest BMI Million-Air Awards.” BMI’s Millionaire awards are given to songs that generate more than 1 million spins on radio. Urban picked up Million-Air awards yesterday for “Kiss a Girl,” “For You,” “Long Hot Summer,” “Put You In A Song,” “Sweet Thing,” and “Til Summer Comes Around.”

Additional Million-Air awards were announced for Urban’s songs “Better Life” (2 million radio performances), “Days Go By,” “Who Wouldn’t Want To Be Me” and “But For The Grace of God,” (3 million radio performances each), and “Somebody Like You” (4 million).

“Your songs are powerful and stand the test of time. The most exciting part is that you keep adding new ones like ‘Somewhere In My Car.’ BMI is proud to represent you,” said Williams.

Universal Music Publishing’s Kent Earls said, “Thank you for letting us wave your banner and represent your songs. You are a great ambassador for both country music and Nashville and we are proud to work with you.”

Capitol Nashville CEO Mike Dungan noted that “Somewhere In My Car” is the third No. 1 from Urban’s gold-album Fuse. “I came to Capitol almost 15 years ago and there wasn’t much there. As a matter of fact, it was a disaster,” said Dungan. “But there was this bright shining light in the corner that was so far ahead of the curve that it was frightening. As you can imagine, not everybody understood what he was about. Nobody had done what he did. That was like pushing a rock up the hill, but Capitol and Keith did it. Everything since then has been the realization of the talent that is Keith Urban. This man, more than anyone, has made a difference. We know what an incredible musician he is, but he’s also one of the most incredible human beings I’ve ever known. Every time I’m around him, he inspires and we are honored.”

Appropriately, Avenue Bank announced a donation on behalf of the songwriters to the Musicians Hall of Fame. Additional award presentations were made by the Country Music Association and Country Radio Broadcasters.