BMI Country Awards Immortalize 'Live Like You Were Dying' as Song of the Year; Three Share Songwriter Crown; Sony/ATV is Publisher of the Year; Charlie Daniels Saluted as BMI Icon.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- BMI saluted the top country music songwriters, artists and publishers at its 2005 Country Awards, staged at the performing rights organization's Music Row offices. The black-tie ceremony was hosted by Del Bryant, BMI President and CEO, and Paul Corbin, Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville, who presented Certificates of Achievement to the writers and publishers of the 50 most performed country songs in the BMI repertoire.

Tim McGraw's smash "Live Like You Were Dying," written by Tim Nichols, was named Song of the Year; three-time Grammy winner Harley Allen, Big & Rich's Big Kenny and Lonestar frontman Richie McDonald shared the Songwriter of the Year crown; and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville was named Publisher of the Year. A highlight of the gala was a musical salute by Travis Tritt and Montgomery Gentry to legendary artist Charlie Daniels, who was honored as a BMI Icon for his "enduring influence on generations of music makers."

Daniels songs like "Uneasy Rider," "In America," "Long Haired Country Boy," "The South's Gonna Do It Again," "Wichita Jail," and the Southern rock classic "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," have become part of the American musical landscape.

Other awards went to "Live Like You Were Dying" earned the 37th Robert J. Burton Award as Most Performed Country Song of the Year for writer Tim Nichols and publishers Nichols Worth Music and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.

BMI writers Harley Allen, Big Kenny and Richie McDonald tied to claim the Country Songwriter of the Year trophy with three tunes each on the most performed list. Songs earning them the prestigious title were Allen's "Awful, Beautiful Life," "If Nobody Believed In You" and "My Last Name"; Big Kenny's "Holy Water," "Here for the Party" and "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)"; and McDonald's "Let Them Be Little," "Mr. Mom" and "Let's Be Us Again."

With 15 songs on this year's list, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville (through its companies Sony/ATV Acuff Rose and Sony/ATV Tree) picked up its fourth consecutive Publisher of the Year Crystal by once again accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs.

Also honored were songwriters Bob DiPiero, Ed Hill, Tommy Lee James, Toby Keith, Vicky McGehee, Shania Twain, Keith Urban and Song of the Year writer Tim Nichols, who had two songs each on the list of 50.

Now marking its 65th year in business, BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. With a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world, the non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.

A complete list of 2005 BMI Country Awards winners is available at bmi.com. High-resolution photos from the event will be available at press.bmi.com.