Songwriters Hall of Fame announces 2013 inductees

Tony Hatch, Foreigner’s Mick Jones and Lou Gramm, Holly Knight, J.D. Souther and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry are the 2013 Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) inductees, it was announced today by the New York-based organization.

They will be ushered into the hall at the 44th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner, to be held on June 13 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

Songwriter/producer/arranger/conductor/pianist Hatch is best known for his many classic hits with Petula Clark, including “Downtown,” “I Know A Place,” "Don’t Sleep In The Subway,” “I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love,” “Colour My World,” “Sign Of The Times” and “My Love.” His other hits include Chris Montez’s “Call Me” and The Searchers’ “Sugar And Spice.”

J.D. Souther's "You're Only Lonely"J.D. Souther's "You're Only Lonely"

The Jones and Gramm partnership has yielded such huge Foreigner hits as "I Want To Know What Love Is," "Feels Like The First Time," "Cold As Ice," "Hot Blooded" and "Waiting For A Girl Like You."

Holly Knight co-wrote Tina Turner’s hit “Better Be Good To Me.” For Pat Benatar, she penned “Love Is A Battlefield” and “Invincible.” Her other hit compositions include Patty Smyth’s “The Warrior,” Divinyls’ “Pleasure And Pain” and Turner’s “The Best.”

Also an actor with a recurring role on ABC-TV’s hit series Nashville, "Southern California sound" pioneer Souther had a hand in writing many of The Eagles’ hits including "Heartache Tonight,” "New Kid In Town,” "Best Of My Love” and “How Long.” Linda Ronstadt scored with his “Faithless Love” and "Prisoner In Disguise,” and he himself hit big with "You're Only Lonely” and his "Her Town, Too" duet with James Taylor.

Tyler and Perry, of course, are credited on songs by Aerosmith that helped propel them into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Each of our 2013 inductees has been responsible for captivating the world with their creativity for decades, serving up a rich variety of songs for our global soundtrack,” said SHOF chairman Jimmy Webb. “We are looking forward to celebrating their contributions at our annual awards gala.”

The Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates songwriters, educates the public with regard to their achievements, and produces a spectrum of professional programs devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships;

The 2013 SHOF special award honorees will be announced soon.

[The Examiner contributes to the SHOF newsletter.]

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