Singer Taylor Swift stole the spotlight at the Bmi Country Awards, taking home the top honour of the night.

The country star was handed the Country Song Of The Year gong for her track Teardrops On My Guitar at the ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday night.

Hank Williams Jr. was honoured as Music Icon during the ceremony and Casey Beathard was given the nod for Songwriter Of The Year for the second time for his hits including Kenny Chesney's Don't Blink.

Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban were also honoured for their contribution to songwriting.

Performers on the night included Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gregg Allman, Robert Randolph and Kenny Chesney.

The 56th annual event is to celebrate the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most-performed country songs in the Bmi (Broadcast Music Inc.) repertoire.