Songwriters Hall of Fame honours Ray Davies, Donovan

When life’s a song.

A death in Ray Davies’ family didn’t allow the singer to attend the Songwriters Hall of Fame on Thursday, but Jon Bon Jovi closed the three-hour event by performing Kinks hits such as You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night.

Davies, who was dealing with his sister’s death, accepted the honour in a video, saying he was proud to be part of the 2014 class that included Donovan as well as songwriters Jim Weatherly, Graham Gouldman and Mark James.

Rosanne Cash played double duty at the ceremony in New York City. She sang her father’s I Still Miss Someone to honour BMI President Del Bryant — where she grew emotional — and she performed Catch the Wind with Donovan following his induction.

American Idol champ Candice Glover sang an impressive version of Midnight Train to Georgia, one of many songs Weatherly — a former quarterback for the University of Mississippi — wrote.

“I always assumed I’d be a football coach,” he told the crowd at the Marriott Marquis.

A Great Big World, the duo behind the recent Christina Aguilera-assisted hit Say Something, performed 10cc’s I’m Not In Love to pay tribute to Gouldman, the English songwriter who wrote the Yardbirds’ For Your Love and the Hollies’ Bus Stop. And Martina McBride performed Suspicious Minds, a No. 1 Elvis Presley hit James wrote.

Miguel gave a show-stopping performance of Me and Mrs. Jones, written by Gamble & Huff, who received the Johnny Mercer award, the night’s top prize. The Philadelphia duo, inducted into the Songwriters Hall in 1995, earned a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. “What’s next, an Oscar?” Kenneth Gamble said to laughs.

Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds received the Hal David Starlight award and performed a slow, piano version of the Grammy-winning Radioactive, which he wrote along with his bandmates.

Meanwhile Chubby Checker, who performed Let’s Twist Again at the gala, wants the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to know it’s time to induct him into its exclusive club before it’s too late. “I don’t want to get in there when I’m 85 years old. I’ll tell them to drop dead, so you better do it quick while I’m still smiling,” Checker said on Thursday.

Kenny Gamble said he feels Checker is long overdue. “I think Chubby Checker should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s the only person I know to have the same song go to No. 1 twice.”