It’s time for another hall of fame induction class! This time, we’re highlighting the iconic folks with the best lyrics of all time, the Songwriters Hall of Fame!
The press release gives us a history lesson on SHOF:
Established in 1969, the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) serves as a vital bridge between music’s past and future. In the Hall, musical pioneers are enshrined and celebrated, while the organization’s outreach to the music community grooms the next generation of troubadours. To qualify for induction, a songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song.
Before the holidays, we gave you the scoop for the contenders and now the inductees have been announced!
While Outkast didn’t make it this time, the Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) did! The velvet voices (and pen game) of Ernie, Marvin, O’Kelly, Ronald and Rudolph Isley along with Chris Jasper, better known as The Isley Brothers, are inductees, too. And Mariah Carey! I mean, the woman who is still eating off the last big original Christmas song certainly deserves an induction.
Further, William “Mickey” Stevenson, who wrote hits like Martha & the Vandella’s “Dancing in the Street” and Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston’s “It Takes Two” will be inducted this year, as well.
Additional special awards honorees will be announced at a later date.
“The first thing you need to know is it’s about the song, the second thing you need to know is it’s about the song, the third thing you need to know is it’s about the song,” SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said in a statement. “I am very proud that we are recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2020 slate of inductees represents diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, writers who have enriched our lives and in their time literally transformed music and helped make it what it is today.”
The Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Thursday, June 11, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.