Johnny McDaid, the songwriter, producer and Snow Patrol musician, will receive the BMI President's Award at the 2026 BMI London Awards, held at a private ceremony at The Dorchester in London on September 28, Music Business Worldwide reported. BMI announced the honor on Tuesday, with the event hosted by CEO Mike O'Neill, EVP and Chief Revenue and Creative Officer Mike Steinberg, and VP of Worldwide Creative Barbara Cane.
Steinberg praised McDaid's "remarkable gift for melody and storytelling" and his ability to capture human emotion, saying it has helped shape some of the most memorable and enduring songs of the past two decades.
Originally from Derry, Northern Ireland, McDaid moved to London as a teenager and busked on the city's streets before building a career as one of the industry's most in-demand collaborators. His songs have been recorded by artists including Ed Sheeran, BTS, P!nk, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys, Lewis Capaldi, Jung Kook, Weezer, Shawn Mendes, David Guetta and Kelly Clarkson.
His collaboration with Sheeran on "Shape of You" became the first song in Spotify history to reach two billion streams; it has since passed five billion streams, spent 12 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and 14 weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and is certified 13-times platinum by the RIAA. BMI also credits it as Apple Music's most-streamed song of the decade.
McDaid's other Sheeran co-writes have also become streaming giants: "Photograph," "Shivers" and "Bad Habits" have reached 3.5 billion, 2.1 billion and two billion Spotify streams respectively, according to BMI. He is a two-time Grammy nominee and two-time Ivor Novello winner who holds 17 BMI Awards, including BMI Pop and London Song of the Year for "Shape of You" in 2018 and BMI London Song of the Year for "Bad Habits" in 2022.
More recently, McDaid co-wrote "Bottle Up" for the Backstreet Boys and "Animal" for KATSEYE, the HYBE and Universal Music Group-developed group named TikTok's Global Artist of the Year for 2025; "Animal" debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Global 200, the group's first top-10 entry on that chart. In January 2025, Concord acquired a portion of McDaid's publishing catalog and became his administration partner for future work.
At the 2026 ceremony, McDaid joins previous President's Award recipients including benny blanco, Luis Fonsi, Noel Gallagher, Ellie Goulding, Taylor Swift, Brian Wilson and Fraser T. Smith, who received the honor in 2025 at the same Dorchester ceremony. The evening also recognizes the British and European songwriters and publishers behind the past year's most-performed songs across US streaming, radio, film, television and visual media, with the full honoree list tracked on award watch.
The facts
- BMI President's Award presented at the 2026 BMI London Awards, September 28 at The Dorchester
- McDaid co-wrote Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You," the first song to reach 2 billion Spotify streams
- "Shape of You" is certified 13-times platinum and named Apple Music's most-streamed song of the decade
- Also co-wrote "Photograph," "Shivers" and "Bad Habits" for Sheeran, each topping 2+ billion streams
- Two-time Grammy nominee and two-time Ivor Novello winner with 17 BMI Awards
- Recently co-wrote "Animal" for KATSEYE, which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Global 200
How this checks out
Single source
Reported by a single outlet
Only one outlet has reported it so far, so it stays a single source.
Cited sources 1
Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.