REM will be the ninth group of three or more songwriters to be inducted. Seven of them are performance groups. The other two teams worked behind the scenes.
REM in the press room at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York on September 8, 1994.
Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
Being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame is a major achievement in any songwriter's life, and it's always nice to share life's great moments with friends and colleagues. Well, it's sure to mean a lot on Thursday, June 13, when the four former members of REM appear together at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
Another songwriting team — Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan — will also be honored this year, though the celebration will be muted by the fact that Becker is receiving the honor posthumously. He died in 2017 at the age of 67.
The other participants in this year's event are Hillary Lindsey, Dean Pitchford and Timothy Mosley (better known as Timbaland). Diane Warren will receive the top award of the night, the Johnny Mercer Award. SZA will receive the Hal David Starlight Award, which honors a fast-rising songwriter.
REM will be the ninth group of three or more songwriters to join the SHOF on the same night. Seven of them are performance groups. The other two teams worked behind the scenes – Holland/Dozier/Holland, the songwriting and production wizards who created some of the most enduring and beloved hits of the 1960s, and Galt MacDermot, James Rado and Gerome Ragni, who wrote the songs for the Broadway musical Hairwhich was a sensation in the late 1960s.
Here's a complete list of collectives of three or more songwriters who have joined (or will soon join) SHOF on the same night. They are listed in chronological order.
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Holland/Dozier/Holland
Image credit: Lester Cohen/Getty Images
Imported Members: Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland
Date of entry: January 24, 1988
Notes: HDH wrote and produced some of the biggest and best hits in Motown history, including “Stop! In the Name of Love' and 'You Can't Hurry Love' and the Four Tops' 'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)' and 'Reach Out I'll Be There' – all reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1965-66.
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Bee Gees
Imported Members: Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
Date of entry: June 1, 1994
Notes: The brothers co-wrote all 15 of their top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, spanning from “I've Gotta Get a Message to You” in 1968 to “One” in 1989. Nine of those songs reached the No. 1, including such all-time hits as “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Stayin' Alive” (the latter, nominated for Grammy Song of the Year). The brothers also wrote hits for a long list of other performers, including Yvonne Elliman, Andy Gibb, Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick and Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton.
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Queen
Image credit: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
Imported Members: John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor
Date of entry: June 12, 2003
Notes: Queen were introduced roughly midway between Mercury's death in 1991 and the release of the biopic in 2018 Bohemian Rhapsody. The members of Queen wrote the group's biggest hits separately: Mercury wrote “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Are the Champions” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. May contributed “We Will Rock You”. Deacon wrote “Another One Bites the Dust.”
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Crosby, Stills & Nash
Imported Members: David Crosby, Steven Stills, Graham Nash
Date of entry: June 18, 2009
Notes: Nash wrote all of the trio's Top 10 hits, “Just a Song Before I Go” and the philosophical “Wasted on the Way,” on his own. Stills wrote Buffalo Springfield's 1967 classic “For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)” on his own. Neil Young, who joined CSN in 1970 to make it a foursome, is not in the SHOF. The author of “Heart of Gold” (and many other classics) should be there.
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MacDermott, Rado & Ragni
Imported Members: Galt MacDermot, James Rado, Gerome Ragni
Date of entry: June 18, 2009
Notes: The songwriters' names may not ring a bell, but their songs sure do. The creative trio wrote the songs for the Broadway musical Hair, including four top five hits on the Hot 100: “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (by The 5th Dimension), “Hair” (by The Cowsills), “Good Morning Starshine” (by Oliver) and “Easy to Be Hard” (from Three Dog Night). The Hair The cast album topped the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks. Ragni's induction into the SHOF was posthumous. he had died in 1991 at the age of 55.
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Earth, Wind & Fire
Imported Members: Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Larry Dunn, Al McKay
Date of entry: June 17, 2010
Notes: Group leader Maurice White co-wrote four of the group's seven top 10 hits: “Shining Star” (with Bailey), “Sing a Song” (with McKay), “September” (with McKay and Allee Willis, who was voted into the SHOF in 2018, a year before her death) and “Let's Groove” (featuring Wayne Vaughn). “Shining Star” was the band's only No. 1 on the Hot 100, but the irresistible “September” is perhaps their most popular song today.
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Kool & the Gang
Imported Members: Robert “Kool” Bell, Ronald Bell, George Brown, James “JT” Taylor
Date of entry: June 25, 2018
Notes: The band members wrote all 12 of their top 10 hits, including their only No. 1, “Celebration,” which has become as much a fixture at wedding receptions as a big, frosted cake. Group member George Brown co-wrote “Too Hot”, the mid-tempo ballad that highlighted the group's broad appeal.
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The Isley Brothers
Imported Members: Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Rudolph Isley, Ronald Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Chris Jasper
Date of entry: June 13, 2022
Notes: The Isleys are the largest collective to be honored to date – six members were inducted in 2022. O'Kelly, Ronald and Rudolph co-wrote the band's first two Top 10 hits on the Hot 100 – 'It's Your Thing' and 'That Lady (Part 1).” Ernie, Marvin and Chris joined them to write the band's third top 10 hit, “Fight the Power (Part 1)”. O'Kelly's induction was posthumous. He died in 1986 aged 48 years old.
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REM
Imported Members: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe
Date of entry: June 13, 2024
Notes: The four members of REM co-wrote all four of the band's top 10 hits on the Hot 100: “The One I Love,” “Stand,” “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People.” The masterful “Losing My Religion” received a Grammy nod for Song of the Year, and likely would have won had the Grammys not inexplicably let a 40-year-old standard (“Unforgettable”) compete that year.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/songwriters-hall-of-fame-groups-collectives-inducted/
