The members of R.E.M. had joked only hours before that it would take “a comet” to get the band to perform together one last time. Yet there they were at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday night, reunited during the gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
The annual event celebrated a talented group of songwriters that included R.E.M., Steely Dan, Timbaland, Hillary Lindsey and Dean Pitchford.
R.E.M.’s Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe stunned audiences with the undisputed highlight of the night: reuniting for an acoustic version of Losing My Religion, which firmly established them as commercial hitmakers in 1991 after nearly a decade as college rock gods.
“We are R.E.M. And this is what we did,” said Stipe of the band, who called it quits in 2011.
Stipe highlighted their strength as a group and early endeavours to own their master recordings and split songwriting credits equally. “There are a lot of people who believed in us,” he said.
Berry, who suffered a brain aneurysm onstage in 1995 and left the band two years later, played with his former pals in 2007 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Jason Isbell inducted the group and covered their hit, It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).
Timbaland a trailblazer: Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott gave an energetic introduction to her longtime writing and production partner Timbaland, noting he had “a gift.”
“Timbaland literally changed the cadence of the time, because he also treated hip-hop records like R&B records,” she said. “He would take the hooks and put a different sound.”
Timbaland told the audience the songwriting recognition was the best award he could get.
“I don’t really talk too much. I just talk with my music,” he said in his acceptance speech, which included a shoutout to the late singer Aaliyah.
“I want to thank baby girl, rest in peace, I hope you’re watching,” he said.
He conducted a group of musicians in a medley of some of his most recognizable songs including Aaliyah’s Are You That Somebody, Ginuwine’s Pony, Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack and Suit & Tie, Elliott’s Get Ur Freak On, Beyonce’s Drunk in Love and Nelly Furtado’s Promiscuous.
‘Queen of modern Nashville songwriters’
Carrie Underwood honoured Lindsey, one of her longtime songwriters, calling her “the queen of modern Nashville songwriters,” before jumping into a full-band rendition of the tearjerker, Jesus, Take the Wheel.
“Country done come to town y’all,” said Lindsey, before playing a short medley of songs she co-wrote, including Lady Gaga’s Million Reasons and a duet with Keith Urban on his Blue Ain’t Your Color.
The Bacon Brothers, the folk-rock duo of actor Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon, introduced Pitchford, who helped Kenny Loggins with the megahit Footloose and also co-wrote 1980s hits Fame, Let’s Hear It For The Boy and Holding Out For a Hero.
Co-founded by Donald Fagan and the late Walter Becker, Steely Dan are known for their classic rock songs including Do It Again and Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.
“I’d like to thank my partner Walter Becker wherever he may be,” Fagan said in his acceptance speech.
Phish frontman Trey Anastasio covered Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne, which segued into Reelin’ in the Years.
Nile Rodgers jabs at Spotify in speech
Nile Rodgers presented SZA with the Hal David Starlight Award for “gifted young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry.”
“This means the most to me,” SZA said in front of the crowd that included her parents. “I struggle at the artist thing. But writing is where I felt like a person, that I had value … it was beyond, was I pretty, was I liked.”
Rodgers received roaring applause when he veered off the prompter to comment, “Spotify we need you to make a point of songwriters being your priority.”
Diane Warren was presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honour bestowed by the event, with Andra Day performing Stand Up for Something, written by Warren. She was previously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001 after a career full of hits including Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time and Because You Loved Me by Céline Dion.
“I have to thank my mom for being the first one I had to prove wrong,” Warren said. “Songwriting isn’t something I do, it is who I am.”
Ahead of Thursday’s festivities, country star Cindy Walker was posthumously inducted. She wrote songs performed by some of the biggest names in country music history and beyond, including Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, B.B. King, Cher and Bing Crosby.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969, with past inductees including Carole King, Paul Simon, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson and Lionel Richie.
