Steve Miller and Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart are among the latest honorees chosen to be inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame, but now the ceremony, originally scheduled for June 2020 and then moved to June 10 of this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been delayed again.
The 51st Annual Induction & Awards Gala now will take place June 16, 2022, in New York City.
“The better part of a year into the pandemic, safety must continue to be the priority, and isolation is key to that,” says Songwriters Hall of Fame chairman Nile Rodgers of CHIC regarding the rescheduling.
He adds that the songs created by the Hall’s members “continue to make the world a better place in this continued time of uncertainty and need,” noting, “That is something I believe we can all find gratitude in. We are family!”
In addition to Miller, Lennox and Stewart, the other inductees who’ll finally get their due that night include Mariah Carey, members of The Isley Brothers, Pharrell Williams and his creative partner Chad Hugo, and veteran songwriters Rick Nowels and William “Mickey” Stevenson.
Nowels has co-written hits for Santana, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Belinda Carlisle and many more. Stevenson wrote or co-wrote Motown classics like “Dancing in the Streets,” “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” and “It Takes Two.”
Despite the two-year delay, Songwriters Hall CEO and president Linda Moran tells Billboard that no additional honorees will be added to the list of inductees for 2022.
“If you elect some more writers, what do you do then, cut everybody’s segment down?” she posed. “Do you water it down and not do a tribute [segment] to them or make it so everybody just gets one song [instead of two]? That’s not fair either.”
By Andrea Dresdale and Matt Friedlander
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