Tems, Elton John, Ghazi & More

Billboard hosted its first Global Power Players event in London on Wednesday night, where Elton John and his husband and manager David Furnish, EMPIRE founder and CEO Ghazi Shami and Afrobeats superstar Tems were recognized with special awards.

John and Furnish collected the Creators’ Champion Award, with John saying in his speech, “Supporting the next generation of British artists is one of the major driving forces in my life.” He also took the opportunity to speak out against the U.K. Labour government’s controversial data bill – which proposes an opt-out approach for rights holders, as opposed to the preferred opt-in strategy and has been voted down by the House of Lords for an unprecedented fifth time.

“Copyright has to be transparent and seek permission,” John said onstage at the invite-only event at Shoreditch House in east London. “These two principles are the bedrock of the industry and they must be included in the data bill as a backstop. Let’s be clear: We want to work with the government, we want our government to work with us. We are not anti-AI and we are not anti-Big Tech.”

Also at the Global Power Players event, Tems received the Diamond Award from incoming Billboard Africa editor Nkosiyati Khumalo, saying onstage: “Being African and a musician is a whole new world and I feel like Billboard has been so supportive of not just African music but the whole scene and the culture.”

Finally, EMPIRE founder and CEO Ghazi Shami was given the Clive Davis Visionary Award, presented by Nigerian musician and YNBL label boss Olamide, saying in his speech: “I often tell people that EMPIRE is a philanthropy company masquerading as a record label. I truly believe that in my heart. It wasn’t always that way. Being a visionary means you see a need in your community and you try and figure out how to serve that need.”

Find the best photos from the inaugural Billboard Global Power Players event below.