Songwriters Hall Of Fame Holds Its 47th Annual Induction And Awards Dinner

Costello & Petty Honored (photo by Larry Busacca)

The 2016 SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME 47th annual INDUCTION AND AWARDS DINNER was held last night at the MARRIOTT MARQUIS HOTEL IN NEW YORK, as SHOF President/CEO LINDA MORAN and co-chairs KENNETH GAMBLE and LEON HUFF recognized and celebrated the induction of ELVIS COSTELLO, TOM PETTY, NILE RODGERS and the late BERNARD EDWARDS, CHIP TAYLOR and the late MARVIN GAYE. LIONEL RICHIE was honored with the prestigious JOHNNY MERCER AWARD; NICK JONAS with the HAL DAVID STARLIGHT AWARD and SEYMOUR STEIN with the HOWIE RICHMOND HITMAKER AWARD.

The evening kicked off with MARCUS MUMFORD delivering a rocking performance of ELVIS COSTELLO’s “Pump It Up” before inducting the legendary songwriter, whom he called his “hero.”

JUSSIE SMOLETT offered a soulful rendition of “What’s Going On” before inducting MARVIN GAYE. posthumously.  MARVIN’s wife, JAN, accepted the honor on her late husband’s behalf, saying, “MARVIN was so special. MARVIN is with us, he’s not going anywhere. We might not be able to see him in the flesh, but his spirit is so strong, and as JUSSIE said, his messages whether they be social, political, sexual are still relevant today.”

RACHEL PLATTEN performed inductee CHIP TAYLOR’s hit “Angel Of The Morning” before CHIP’s brother, actor JON VOIGHT welcomed him into the HALL.  Following his induction, TAYLOR was joined on-stage by his three granddaughters for a family performance of “Wild Thing” that had the audience singing along.

The B-52s gave a timeless performance of their hit “Love Shack” before welcoming veteran executive SEYMOUR STEIN to the stage to accept the HOWIE RICHMOND HITMAKER AWARD, which is specifically tailored for an artist or "star maker" in the music industry who has been responsible for a substantial number of hit songs for an extended period, and most importantly, recognizes the genuine significance of the song and songwriter. SEYMOUR told anecdotes that had the room cracking up.

The celebratory evening continued as late night host JAMES CORDEN presented pal NICK JONAS with the HAL DAVID STARLIGHT AWARD for young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry with their original songs. JONAS then gave an energized performance of his smash hit “Jealous,” which had the audience clapping along.

Co-Chairs GAMBLE and HUFF returned to the stage to welcome JENNIFER HUDSON, who helped to honor JOHNNY MERCER AWARD recipient LIONEL RICHIE with a flawless performance of “Still” before bringing him to the stage to present him with the highest honor bestowed by the SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME. RICHIE called it the “best night of my life as a songwriter,” before sitting at the piano to play his hit, “Hello.”

TOM PETTY was inducted by ROGER McGUINN, who performed TOM's hit, “American Girl” before PETTY hit the stage, performing his new song “Forgive It All” and “Angel Dream.”

The evening came to a close with the inductionof RODGERS and his late partner EDWARDS, as SISTER SLEDGE welcomed NILE and BERNARD’s two sons, BERNARD (“FOCUS”) EDWARDS JR. and DAVID EDWARDS to the stage as NILE recounted old tales of the CHIC duo, saying that they were “polar opposites but when they played music they were one.”  RODGERS glowed with gratitude, holding his award high saying, “This is the one that means everything to me.” He performed “Le Freak” while the crowd danced along, then SISTER SLEDGE returned to the stage and had the audience on their feet with the hit, “We Are Family.”

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