Van Morrison was honoured last night for his song, Brown Eyed Girl, which passed 10 million plays on US radio. The’ Belfast Cowboy’ joins an elite band of musicians to have reached the musical milestone. Morrison was only 22 when the evergreen single was released in 1967, at the beginning of a career that was to deliver many more hits.
In a recent interview the famously taciturn musician harrumphed that he had at least 300 other songs that were better than Brown Eyed Girl. But only one other song on this side of the Atlantic, Sting’s Every Breath You Take, has topped the 10 million play mark. Brown Eyed Girl passed the 9m mark two years ago.
Van Morrison’s contribution was honoured at the BMI Awards in London which was hosted by US performing rights body Broadcast Music Inc. There were also a number of other awards presented including one for Dublin band, The Script, which claimed the gong for the most played song (Breakeven) in the US by a European act in the past twelve months.
