Ed Sheeran wins BMI European Song of the Year for the fourth time, this time for “Bad Habits”

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Atlantic Records

Ed Sheeran was honored with the European Song of the Year award Monday night at the BMI London Awards, held at London’s Savoy Hotel.

Ed and one of his co-writers, Johnny McDaid, shared the award for “Bad Habits.” In a video acceptance message, Ed said, “We had so much fun making the song and it has been so much fun playing the song out on the road and seeing the reactions of people all around Europe and I can’t wait to go out and do some more.”

The honor is nothing new for Ed, who also won the award in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Ellie Goulding was presented with the President’s Award. Billboard reports that in her acceptance speech, she spoke about the importance of ambition, and advised aspiring artists, “Don’t listen to those people who have anything to say about you wanting bigger and better — because you deserve it.”

Awards were also handed out to the “Most-Performed” songs of the year, which included “Bad Habits” and a few other Ed songs: “Afterglow” and “Shivers.” Other winners included Elton John and Dua Lipa‘s hit “Cold Heart,” Duncan Laurence‘s “Arcade,” Taylor Swift‘s “Exile” and Ava Max‘s “My Head and My Heart.”

The event also recognized older songs for hitting milestones in number of plays on TV and radio. For example, Queen‘s “Another One Bites the Dust” and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” were both honored for nine million plays.

In addition, A-Ha’s “Take On Me” was honored for eight million plays, The Police’s “Roxanne” and Elton John‘s “Rocket Man” were honored for seven million plays and “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars was honored for six million plays.

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