Three “non-performing” songwriters – Hillary Lindsey, Timothy Mosley (Timbaland) and Dean Pitchford – and members of two groups – Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) and Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (Steely Dan) – are the 2024 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
They will be honored at the organization’s 2024 Induction and Awards Gala, which is slated for Thursday, June 13, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
There are usually three inductees in each category – non-performing and performing – but this year there are just two in the latter category. Twelve performing songwriters and 10 non-performing songwriters competed for these slots.
Timbaland competed as a non-performing songwriter, even though he has had five top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as an artist, including three on which he was the lead artist: “Give It to Me,” “Apologize” and “The Way I Are.”
SHOF chairman Nile Rodgers said in a statement, “We are … very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2024 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and literally enriched music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”
A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song.
Induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame is a prestigious honor for songwriters and one that is very hard to achieve. The list of nominated songwriters who weren’t chosen this year ought to make those who were chosen feel both proud and humbled. Performing songwriters who weren’t chosen this year are Bryan Adams; Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings; Debbie Harry, Chris Stein & Clem Burke (Blondie); Tracy Chapman; George Clinton; Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons & Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers); David Gates; Ann Wilson & Nancy Wilson (Heart); Kenny Loggins; and Chuck D and Flavor Flav (Public Enemy).
Non-performing songwriters who weren’t chosen this year are L. Russell Brown, Dean Dillon, Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter, Tony Macaulay, Roger Nichols, Maurice Starr and Narada Michael Walden.
Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame event begin at $2,000 each, and are available through Buckley Hall Events, (914) 579-1000 and SHOF@buckleyhallevents.com. Net proceeds from the event go toward the Songwriters Hall of Fame programs. Songwriters Hall of Fame is a 501(c)3 organization. The non-deductible portion of each ticket is $215. Contributions are fully tax-deductible as provided by law.
Here’s a quick look at this year’s inductees. The “key songs” are supplied by the SHOF. Additional special award honorees will be announced soon.
Hillary Lindsey
Key songs: “Jesus Take the Wheel,” “Girl Crush,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “Always Remember Us This Way,” “Million Reasons”
Notes: Lindsey, who is in her mid-40s, is this year’s only female inductee. Lindsey, a native of Georgia, has won three Grammys – best country song for the Carrie Underwood hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and the Little Big Town hit “Girl Crush” and best song written for visual media for “I’ll Never Love Again,” performed by Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born. Lindsey has received 10 Grammy nominations – all in songwriting categories.
Lindsey has won three Academy of Country Music Awards – two awards for songwriter of the year (2018-19) as well as the Tex Ritter Film Award for A Star Is Born. She has won one Country Music Association Award – song of the year for “Girl Crush.” Lindsey was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022.
Timothy Mosley (Timbaland)
Key songs: “SexyBack,” “Get Ur Freak On,” “Pony,” “Big Pimpin’,” “The Way I Are”
Notes: Timbaland, 51, is this year’s only inductee who is a person of color. Timbaland has won four Grammys – best dance recording for Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” (featuring Timbaland) and “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows” and best R&B song for Timberlake’s “Pusher Love Girl” and Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z’s “Drunk in Love.”
His other songwriting nominations are for the Missy Elliott hit “Get Ur Freak On” (best R&B song) and Elliott’s “Work It,” 50 Cent’s “Ayo Technology” (featuring Timberlake and Timbaland) and Jay-Z featuring Justin Timberlake’s “Holy Grail” (all best rap song).
Dean Pitchford
Key songs: “Footloose,” “Fame,” “Holding Out for a Hero,” “All the Man That I Need,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”
Notes: Pitchford was just 29 when he won an Oscar for best original song for co-writing “Fame” with Michael Gore. That song also received a Grammy nod for song of the year. Pitchford wrote the screenplay, and co-wrote all the songs, for the 1984 blockbuster Footloose. The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 for 10 consecutive weeks and spawned a pair of No. 1 hits on the Hot 100, Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” and Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear It for the Boy.”
Even some of the songs that weren’t massive hits at the time, such as Bonnie Tyler’s “Holdin’ Out for a Hero” (No. 34 on the Hot 100) have become famous. Pitchford, 72, has amassed seven Grammy nods, including best R&B song for Shalamar’s hit “Dancing in the Sheets” – see what he did there? – another of the Footloose hits.
Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Michael Stipe (R.E.M.)
Key songs: “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts,” “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine),” “Radio Free Europe,” “The One I Love”
Notes: The band won three Grammys in 1992 – best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal and best music video – short form for “Losing My Religion” and best alternative music album for Out of Time. The band members have been nominated for two songwriting Grammys. “Losing My Religion” was nominated for song of the year. “The Great Beyond” from Man in the Moon was nominated for best song written for a motion picture, television or other visual media. R.E.M. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (Steely Dan)
Key songs: “Reelin’ in the Years,” “My Old School,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Black Friday,” “Kid Charlemagne”
Notes: Steely Dan won three Grammys in 2001 – album of the year and best pop vocal album for Two Against Nature and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Cousin Dupree.” Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Becker, who died in 2017, is this year’s only posthumous honoree.
Fagen achieved two songwriting nominations on his own – song of the year for his solo hit “I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)” and best song written specifically for a motion picture or television for “Century’s End” from Bright Lights, Big City.
