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BMI’s Preston Passes Away
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Former BMI President and CEO Frances
Williams Preston has died. According to news accounts she had congestive heart
failure.
Preston was president of the performance
rights organization from 1986 through 2004. Born in 1928, she started with BMI
in 1958 and rose through the ranks. According to BMI Preston worked to reform
and extend songwriter rights and also navigated the difficult shoals of the
digital media revolution.
NAB Joint Board Chairman Paul
Karpowicz said in a statement: “Frances Preston was a great friend to the
broadcast community during her nearly two decades as president and CEO of BMI.
She was a person of substance, grace and humanity, and her unwavering support
for songwriters will be her legacy. We join our music industry friends in
mourning the loss of this truly one-of-a-kind woman.”
Current
President and CEO Del Bryant said: “Frances Williams Preston was a force of
nature. She was smart, beautiful, tenacious and generous. She put BMI on the
culture map and shaped the careers of many …”
Preston
won many industry awards for her service and has been inducted into the Country
Music Hall of Fame and is in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Broadcasting
& Cable Hall of Fame.
Check out a slide show of Preston and a who’s who in music, entertainment and politics at the BMI website.
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