REM reunites for the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony to honor Timbaland and Steely Dan

NEW YORK (AP) — A comet must have landed at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony. RIM members He was joking Only hours before it takes “Guilty” to get the band to perform together for the last time. However, they were reunited during a party held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on Thursday night.

The annual event celebrated a talented lineup of songwriters including R.E.M., Steely Dan, and Timbalandwho performed a medley of his huge hits.

Rapid eye movement Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe were behind numerous alternative rock songs such as “Everybody Hurts” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” And on Thursday, they stunned fans with the undisputed highlight of the night: their reunion for an acoustic version of “Losing My Religion.”

“We are REM,” Stepp said. “And that’s what we did.”

Stipe highlighted their strength as a group and their early endeavors to own their master recordings and divide the songwriting credits equally. “There are a lot of people who believed in us,” he added.

Jason Isbell covered the group’s song, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” Afterwards he joked: “I have never said so many words so quickly in my entire life.”

Nashville hitmaker Hillary Lindsay, who helped write Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” and Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” has been recruited along with Dean Pitchford, who helped Kenny Loggins with the hit “Footloose.” He participated in writing “Fame” and “Standing for a Hero.”

The Bacon Brothers, a folk rock duo Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon, giving Pitchford a searing rendition of “Footloose,” tambourine and all. Denise Williams took off her shoes to dance while singing her song “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” written by Pitchford.

“It’s been 40 years, can you believe it,” Pitchford said. “I am very grateful… Above all, thank you for listening to me.” Then he sang his piece, “Once Before I Go.”

Irving Azoff led the celebration of Steely Dan, telling a story about the legendary band who presented a blank glossy image as a work of promotional artwork.

“To say they have a great sense of humor would be an understatement,” he said.

Co-founded by Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker, Steely Dan is known for classic rock songs including “Do It Again” and “Hey Nineteen.”

“I would like to thank my partner Walter Becker, wherever he may be,” Fagen said in his acceptance speech.

Fish frontman Trey Anastasio He covered Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne” and “Reelin’ in the Years.” Their “true genius” are their songs, Anastasio said.

Nile Rodgers introduced the singer SZA With the Hal David Starlight Award “for talented young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry.”

“There would be no music industry if there were no songs,” Rodgers told the artists and industry professionals in the room. “It all starts with a song.”

Rodgers received a standing ovation when he detoured from the announcer to comment: “Spotify, we want you to make songwriters your priority.”

“This means a lot to me,” SZA told the crowd, which included her parents. “I struggle as an artist. But writing is where I feel like I am a person, that I have value… It was beyond that, was I pretty, did I like it.

Receiving the award “validates my entire career,” she said, before leading the audience with an abridged version of her hit song “Nobody Understands Me.”

Carrie Underwood She paid tribute to Lindsay, a longtime songwriter she called “the queen of contemporary songwriters in Nashville,” before jumping into a full-band rendition of “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”

Lindsay joked that the first song she wrote “was probably about poo and snot and stuff,” and later described a childhood spent singing about anything in the house, including “mom’s tampons.”

“Country is over, come to town,” she said, before playing a short medley of songs she co-wrote, including Lady Gaga “A Million Reasons” and a duet with Keith Urban on his film “Blue Is Not Your Color”.

Missy Elliott screamed Late rapper Mago To introduce her to Timbaland in a spirited introduction to her longtime writing and producing partner, noting that he had “a talent.”

“Timbaland literally changed the rhythm of that time, because he also treated hip-hop records like R&B records,” she said. “He would take the hooks and put on a different sound.”

Timbaland told the audience that songwriting recognition was the best award he could have received.

“I don’t really talk much. I just talk about my music,” he said, focusing his talk on his collaborators and his family, including his grandmother, who let him work at her house to write the late singer’s song “One in a Million.” High.

He said: “I want to thank you, little girl. Rest in peace, and I hope you are watching.”

He led a group of musicians in a medley of some of his most famous songs including Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody,” Ginuwine’s “Pony,” Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and “Suit & Tie,” and “Get Ur Freak On.” “For Elliot. Beyonce is “drunk in love” and Nelly Furtado is “promiscuous”.

Paul Williams presented Diane Warren with the Johnny Mercer Award, the event’s highest honor, and joked that the AI ​​was “worrying about Diane Warren.” Warren’s song “Stand Up for Something” was performed by Andra Day, who was previously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001.

“I have to thank my mom for being the first to prove me wrong,” Warren said. “Songwriting isn’t something I do, it’s who I am.”

The night ended with a 40th anniversary performance of another song written by Warren: DeBarge’s “Rhythm of the Night.”

Before Thursday’s festivities, country music star Cindy Walker was in attendance It was admitted posthumously In the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Walker has written songs performed by some of the biggest names in country music history and beyond, including… Johnny CashMerle Haggard, B.B. King, ShareGlen Campbell, Gene Autry, Bing Crosby and Roy Orbison.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to honor those who make popular music. A songwriter with an outstanding song catalog qualifies for induction 20 years after the song’s first commercial release. Those already in the hall include Gloria Estefan, Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Lionel Richie, Bill Withers and Neil. Diamond and Phil Collins.

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A previous version of this story incorrectly misspelled Donald Fagen’s name.