Lady Gaga, Van Morrison honoured at songwriters ceremony

New inductees included country stars Toby Keith and Bobby Braddock, the late Chicago bluesman Willie Dixon, the Grateful Dead songwriting team of Robert Hunter and the late Jerry Garcia, pop and stage star Cyndi Lauper and rock composer and performer Linda Perry.

Tony Bennett, Stephen Colbert, Lady Gaga and Van Morrison were among the featured singers and speakers Thursday night at the 46th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, a three-hour journey through the vast and unpredictable range of American music.

New inductees included country stars Toby Keith and Bobby Braddock, the late Chicago bluesman Willie Dixon, the Grateful Dead songwriting team of Robert Hunter and the late Jerry Garcia, pop and stage star Cyndi Lauper and rock composer and performer Linda Perry.

Amazement and gratitude were common reactions.

“I still can’t believe I make a living making music,” Lauper said during her speech.

Morrison and Lady Gaga picked up honorary prizes, while awards also were presented to Nate Ruess and the former CEO of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), John LoFrumento.

The 88-year-old Bennett presented Lady Gaga, his duet partner, with a Contemporary Icon Award after Lady Gaga and Perry honoured each other. Gaga stormed through Perry’s What’s Up? and Perry said it was “crazy” that a song she dashed off in her bedroom, fighting off fleas from her dog, would be embraced by a world famous performer.

Carly Rae Jepsen faithfully sang Lauper’s moody ballad Time After Time and Michael Buble crooned a finger-snapping version of Van Morrison’s Moondance. A segment on Willie Dixon featured a speech by Elton John’s songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, who credited Dixon with loading up British artists such as the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton with great material and giving them “the wings to fly.”

Stephen Colbert seemed an unexpected choice to introduce Toby Keith, but the future Late Night host kicked right into As Good As I Once Was, the stage musicians laughing and grinning behind him. Looking like a Blues Brother in his familiar black, Morrison, with dark shades to match, noted how songwriting royalties keep the money coming in during dry spells in his career and talked of convincing Buble to record a duet with him of Morrison’s hit Real Real Gone. “So the name of the game is hustle,” he said.