MUMBAI: Donovan will be named a BMI Icon at the US performing right organization’s annual London Awards, slated for 6 October at London’s Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane.

The gala will recognize the UK and European songwriters and publishers of the past year’s most-played BMI songs on American radio and television. Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) is a United States-based performing right organization that collects and distributes monies for the public performance of music on outlets including radio, television, the Internet and the top-grossing tours in the US.

The Icon designation is given to BMI songwriters who have bestowed "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." Donovan joins an elite list of past honorees that includes multi-genre nobility Bryan Ferry, Peter Gabriel, Ray Davies, Van Morrison, the Bee Gees, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton, James Brown, Willie Nelson, Hall & Oates, Paul Simon, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steve Winwood and more.

Donovan has generated 11 consecutive Top 40 hits, including Mellow Yellow, Sunshine Superman, Hurdy Gurdy Man and others.

While BMI collects royalties for him in the United States, Donovan is a member of British performing right society PRS for Music.

Hosted by BMI president and CEO Del Bryant; BMI senior vice president, Writer/Publisher Relations Phil Graham; and executive director, Writer/Publisher Relations, Europe & Asia Brandon Bakshi, the BMI London Awards will also present the Robert S. Musel Award to the writer and publisher of the most performed song of the year. BMI will also bestow Million-Air certificates on writers and publishers whose songs have achieved more than three million US radio and television performances – the equivalent of more than 17 years of continuous airplay.