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Mariah Carey Honored as BMI Icon

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Mariah Carey can now declare herself an official “Icon,” as she will be honored at the BMI Urban Awards as a BMI Icon on Sept. 7.

The award goes to an artist who has influenced generations in urban music. Broadcast Music, Inc. is a music rights management company that represents more than 500,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers.

Carey joins past BMI honorees like The Jacksons, James Brown and Al Green.

Over the course of her two-decade career, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, with 18 number one singles, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States, with 63 million certified albums. Carey has won five Grammy Awards.

Mariah Carey is one of the artists being pursued by Fox to be a judge on American Idol, in addition to Janet Jackson, Katy Perry, will.i.am, Kanye West, and Fergie also on Fox’s wish list. Sources say Carey is deep into her talks with Fox and could make as much as Jennifer Lopez, who started at $12 million a season and made $15 million the second year. Despite reports that Randy Jackson will exit, insiders now expect him to stay, especially Carey comes on board (Jackson manages the pop singer).

Though Lopez has said she was leaving, making a rather public announcement on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show, Fox hasn’t yet officially announced her departure. But if they sign Carey, it’s unlikely they would have Carey and Lopez at the table together.

For the third seat, Fox is considering a lower-budgeted option: Former Idol contestant Adam Lambert, who could bring a sharper edge to a panel that’s been knocked for being too soft in recent years.

 

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