{"id":227920,"date":"2025-04-02T16:05:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T15:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=227920"},"modified":"2025-06-18T20:16:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T19:16:21","slug":"key-songs-in-the-life-of-mike-oneill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/key-songs-in-the-life-of-mike-oneill\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Songs In The Life Of… Mike O\u2019Neill"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s Key Songs In The Life Of\u2026 is a series in which we ask influential music industry figures about the tracks that have \u2013 so far \u2013 defined their journey and their existence. Taking his turn in the hotseat this time is Mike O’Neill, the President and CEO of BMI who celebrated three decades service at the PRO last year. The Key Songs In The Life Of\u2026 series is supported by Sony Music Publishing<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Mike O\u2019Neill (half) jokes that he has 1.4 million-and-one favorite songwriters. 1.4 million are, of course, beloved members of BMI, the performance rights organization where he is President and CEO and where he has worked for over 30 years. The other is Bruce Springsteen.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just the brilliance of the artistry and the depth of the catalog for which he frees up a 1,400,001st spot on the podium but outside the BMI-zone; it turns out he and The Boss have history.<\/p>\n

First there was the encounter when O\u2019Neill was working as a lifeguard. Much later on there was the one in the gym (more on both to come, don\u2019t worry). And in between there was the one in a bar where he was working during, appropriately enough, Springsteen\u2019s Glory Days.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBruce walks in one night, and I introduced myself as the lifeguard he\u2019d met! He doesn’t remember me, of course, but he ends up dropping his wallet, and some kid found it. As Bruce is leaving, the kid hands me the wallet, and I run over to return it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe comes back to the bar where all my buddies are hanging out, and he buys us all drinks. We felt like part of the E Street Band at that point!\u201d<\/p>\n

As you\u2019d expect, with three decades working and advocating for writers, O\u2019Neill knows the power and value of a song (although, as per the famous Oscar Wilde quote, he is always careful not to confuse value with price). As you\u2019d also expect, he both loved and hated the task of choosing just eight.<\/p>\n

He says: \u201cI listen to so much music, it was tough to find a starting point. In the end I went to my most-listened-to tracks of last year. That was great, and obviously I love them all. But it struck me that they weren\u2019t really the most important songs of my life; I wanted to go a bit broader and deeper than what I\u2019ve listened to in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I started to think of songs that I associate with memories and stories. It was hard \u2013 and it took so much longer than I thought it would. But it was also great. I laughed, I cried, I remembered a whole lot of stories that I can\u2019t tell!\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe another time (maybe another place). But, for now, this selection of tracks and tales, from someone who truly loves music and clearly worships the songwriters behind it, will more than suffice\u2026<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>1) Murray Head \/ Yvonne Elliman, Superstar \/ I Don’t Know How to Love Him (1970)<\/h6>\n

This takes me back to when I was 13 or 14 years old. I’m of Irish-Italian Catholic descent, and I was raised in a pretty strict Catholic household \u2013 I was even an altar boy growing up. There were five kids in our family, all within six years of each other.<\/p>\n

When Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em> first came out in the seventies, it was seen as controversial, almost sacrilegious at the time. So, growing up with two parents who were very devout Catholics, they wouldn’t let us listen to it.<\/p>\n

Of course my older brother snuck out to the record store and bought it. My two older brothers and I shared a room together growing up, and we’d listen to the album without our parents knowing we had it. We knew every word \u2013 and we loved these two tracks in particular. It was kind of the first time we rebelled against my parents.<\/p>\n

They eventually found out we had the album, and they were not happy with us boys. But, looking back, they were actually open-minded people. They taught us to consider different perspectives.<\/p>\n

A few years later, my parents actually bought tickets to see Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway. They realized the whole play was about different perspectives on whether you’re Judas or Christ and how the disciples interacted. It actually taught us a valuable lesson that has always stuck with me.<\/p>\n

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