Bog Seger, Gordon Lightfoot Among Musicians Inducted Into Songwriters Hall of Fame

Bob Seger, Gordon Lightfoot, Don Schlitz, and Jim Steinman are the newest members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The four men were honored at the 43rd Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction ceremony held in New York yesterday evening.
Bog Seger, the writer and singer behind 1974’s “Turn the Page,” said composing a song is the hardest, yet most rewarding thing about his career as a musician. Seger performed the classic tune to kick off the induction ceremony. Folk-rock legend Gordon Lightfoot has penned a number of hits throughout his extensive career, including “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind.” Barbara Streisand and Johnny Cash have both covered “If You Could Read My Mind,” a song lamenting Lightfoot’s failed marriage. Fellow inductee Don Schlitz has penned 24 hit country songs, including Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler.” Schlitz has won two Grammys and four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards for his work. Jim Steinman, the man who wrote the songs on Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell albums, also received a spot in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Meatloaf and American Idol rocker Constantine Maroulis performed an abridged version of “Bat Out of Hell” at last night’s ceremony. The song, normally 10 minutes long, was so condensed that Steinman joked it was like watching an episode of Glee. The Songwriters Hall of Fame has honored talented songwriters since 1969.Photo: morgueFile