Inductees of the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Encyclopedia
This a list of inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...

. Dates of induction are given alongside the names.

A

  • Adams, Lee
    Lee Adams
    Lee Richard Adams is an American lyricist best known for his musical theatre collaboration with Charles Strouse.Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Adams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University and a Master's from Columbia University.Adams won Tony Awards in 1961 for Bye Bye Birdie...

     (1989)
  • Adair, Tom
    Tom Adair
    Thomas "Tom" Montgomery Adair was an American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter.-Biography:Born in Newton, Kansas, worked at a power company and the Saturday Evening Post, writing numerous poems, while penning the songs in his spare time. In 1941, Adair met Matt Dennis in a club and the duo...

     (2010)
  • Adamson, Harold
    Harold Adamson
    For the Toronto Police Chief see Harold Adamson Harold Adamson was an American lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s.- Biography :...

     (1972)
  • Adler, Richard
    Richard Adler
    Richard Adler is an American lyricist, composer and producer of several Broadway shows.-Biography:Born in New York City, Adler had a musical upbringing, his father being a concert pianist. After serving in the Navy he began his career as a lyricist, teaming up with Jerry Ross in 1950...

     (1984)
  • Ager, Milton
    Milton Ager
    Milton Ager was an American composer.Ager was born in Chicago, Illinois, the sixth of nine children. Leaving school with only three years of formal high-school education, he taught himself to play the piano and embarked on a career as a musician. After spending time as an accompanist to silent...

     (1972)
  • Ahlert, Fred
    Fred E. Ahlert
    Frederick Emil Ahlert was an American composer and songwriter. He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially for Irving Aaronson and his Commanders and then for composer and band-leader Fred Waring...

     (1970)
  • Akst, Harry
    Harry Akst
    Harry Akst was an American songwriter, who started out his career as a pianist in vaudeville accompanying singers such as Nora Bayes, Frank Fay and Al Jolson.-Life and career:Akst was born in New York, United States....

     (1983)
  • Alter, Louis
    Louis Alter
    Louis Alter was an American pianist, songwriter and composer. Alter was 13 when he began playing piano in theaters showing silent films...

     (1975)
  • Anderson, Leroy
    Leroy Anderson
    Leroy Anderson was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler...

     (1988)
  • Anka, Paul
    Paul Anka
    Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...

     (1993)
  • Arlen, Harold
    Harold Arlen
    Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...

     (1971)
  • Ashford, Nickolas (2002)
  • Aznavour, Charles
    Charles Aznavour
    Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...

     (1996)

B

  • Bacharach, Burt
    Burt Bacharach
    Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...

     (1971)
  • Bailey, Philip
    Philip Bailey
    Philip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...

     (Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

    ) (2010)
  • Ball, Ernest
    Ernest Ball
    Ernest R. Ball was a United States singer and songwriter, most famous for composing the music for the song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" in 1912. He was not, himself, Irish....

     (1970)
  • Barry, Jeff
    Jeff Barry
    Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...

     (1991)
  • Barry, John
    John Barry (composer)
    John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...

     (1998)
  • Bartholomew, Dave
    Dave Bartholomew
    Dave Bartholomew is a musician, band leader, composer and arranger, prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century...

     (1998)
  • Bates, Katharine Lee
    Katharine Lee Bates
    Katharine Lee Bates was an American songwriter. She is remembered as the author of the words to the anthem "America the Beautiful". She popularized "Mrs. Santa Claus" through her poem Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride .-Life and career:Bates was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts, the daughter of a...

     (1970)
  • Bell, Thom
    Thom Bell
    Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...

     (2006)
  • Benjamin, Bennie
    Bennie Benjamin
    Claude A. Benjamin was a songwriter, often teaming with George David Weiss. He was born on November 4, 1907 in Christiansted on the island of St. Croix . At the age of twenty, he moved to New York City. There, he studied the banjo and guitar with Hy Smith...

     (1984)
  • Bergman, Alan
    Alan Bergman
    Alan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...

     (1980)
  • Bergman, Marilyn
    Marilyn Bergman
    Marilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...

     (1980)
  • Berlin, Irving
    Irving Berlin
    Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...

     (1970)
  • Bernstein, Leonard
    Leonard Bernstein
    Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

     (1971)
  • Berry, Chuck
    Chuck Berry
    Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

     (1986)
  • Billings, William
    William Billings
    William Billings was an American choral composer, and is widely regarded as the father of American choral music...

     (1970)
  • Black, Don (2007)
  • Blackwell, Otis
    Otis Blackwell
    Otis Blackwell was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist, whose work significantly influenced rock 'n' roll...

     (1991)
  • Bland, James (1970)
  • Blane, Ralph
    Ralph Blane
    Ralph Blane was an American composer, lyricist, and performer.-Life and career:Born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Blane was the son of grocery store owners. He attended Tulsa Central High School...

     (1983)
  • Bloom, Rube
    Rube Bloom
    Reuben Bloom was a Jewish American multi-faceted entertainer, and in addition to being a songwriter, pianist, arranger, band leader, recording artist, vocalist, and writer .During his career, he worked with many well-known performers, including Bix Beiderbecke, Joe Venuti, Ruth Etting,...

     (1982)
  • Bock, Jerry
    Jerry Bock
    Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with...

     (1971)
  • Bon Jovi, Jon
    Jon Bon Jovi
    Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...

     (2009)
  • Bowie, David
    David Bowie
    David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

     (2005)
  • Bricusse, Leslie
    Leslie Bricusse
    Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...

     (1989)
  • Brigati, Eddie
    Eddie Brigati
    Eddie Brigati is an American singer and songwriter.Most memorably, Brigati shared vocals, and played tambourine, in the pop group The Young Rascals from 1965 to 1970...

     (The Young Rascals) (2009)
  • Brockman, James
    James Brockman
    James Brockman was an American songwriter. Born in Russia, he emigrated to New York by himself at the age of 9 or 10...

     (1970)
  • Brooks, Garth
    Garth Brooks
    Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...

     (2002)
  • Brown, James (2000)
  • Brown, Lew
    Lew Brown
    Lew Brown was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States.Brown was born as Louis Brownstein in Odessa, Russian Empire...

     (1970)
  • Brown, Nacio Herb
    Nacio Herb Brown
    Nacio Herb Brown was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores, and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s.-Biography:...

     (1970)
  • Browne, Jackson
    Jackson Browne
    Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

     (2007)
  • Bryan, Alfred
    Alfred Bryan
    Alfred Bryan was a United States songwriter and pacifist.-Songs:His hits included*"Peg O' My Heart"*"Come Josephine in My Flying Machine"*"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier"...

     (1970)
  • Bryant, Boudleaux (1986)
  • Bryant, Felice (1986)
  • Burgie, Irving (2007)
  • Burke, Joe
    Joe Burke (composer)
    Joseph A. Burke was an American composer and pianist. He was born in Philadelphia and died in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and started as a pianist accompanying silent movies and an arranger in a music publishing firm. It was during this time...

     (1970)
  • Burke, Johnny (1970)

C

  • Caesar, Irving
    Irving Caesar
    Irving Caesar was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for "Swanee," "Sometimes I'm Happy," "Crazy Rhythm," and "Tea for Two," one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. He was born and died in New York.Caesar, the son of Morris Keiser, a Romanian Jew, was...

     (1972)
  • Cahn, Sammy
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

     (1972)
  • Cash, Johnny
    Johnny Cash
    John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

     (1977)
  • Caldwell, Anne
    Anne Caldwell
    Anne Caldwell , also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was a librettist and lyricist. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She wrote both pop songs and Broadway shows including working with Jerome Kern.-External links:...

     (1970)
  • Carmichael, Hoagy
    Hoagy Carmichael
    Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...

     (1971)
  • Carroll, Harry
    Harry Carroll
    Harry Carroll, a famous American songwriter, pianist and composer, was born on November 28, 1892, in Atlantic City, New Jersey and died December 26, 1962, in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. He taught himself how to play the piano and began playing in movie houses before he finished grade school...

     (1970)
  • Cavaliere, Felix
    Felix Cavaliere
    Felix Cavaliere is an American songwriter, singer, music producer, and musician.Although he was a member of Joey Dee and His Starlighters best known for their hit "Peppermint Twist", he is best known for his association with The Young Rascals during the 1960s. The other members of The Rascals...

     (The Young Rascals) (2009)
  • Chaplin, Saul
    Saul Chaplin
    Saul Chaplin was an American composer and musical director.He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York.He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley...

     (1985)
  • Charles, Ray
    Ray Charles
    Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

     (1993)
  • Child, Desmond
    Desmond Child
    Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...

     (2008)
  • Clapton, Eric
    Eric Clapton
    Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

     (2001)
  • Clare, Sidney
    Sidney Clare
    Sidney Clare was an American comedian, dancer and composer. His best known songs include "On the Good Ship Lollipop" , "You’re My Thrill" , and "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" .In 1929, Clare wrote his...

     (1970)
  • Cohan, George M.
    George M. Cohan
    George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....

     (1970)
  • Cohen, Leonard
    Leonard Cohen
    Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

     (2010)
  • Coleman, Cy
    Cy Coleman
    Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.-Life and career:He was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx. His mother, Ida was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason...

     (1981)
  • Collins, Phil
    Phil Collins
    Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....

     (2003)
  • Comden, Betty
    Betty Comden
    Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...

     (1980)
  • Conrad, Con
    Con Conrad
    Con Conrad was an American songwriter and producer.-Biography:Con Conrad was born Conrad K. Dober in New York City. He published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad produced the Broadway show The Honeymoon Express, starring Al Jolson, in 1913...

     (1970)
  • Cook, Roger
    Roger Cook (songwriter)
    Roger Cook is an English songwriter who has written many hits for other recording artists. He has also had a successful recording career in his own right.-Early life:Cook was born in Fishponds, Bristol, England...

     (2009)
  • Cooke, Sam
    Sam Cooke
    Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...

     (1987)
  • Coots, J. Fred
    J. Fred Coots
    John Frederick Coots was an American songwriter. He wrote over 700 songs.He is most famous for the song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", a song that became one of the biggest best sellers in American music history....

     (1972)
  • Cosby, Henry
    Henry Cosby
    Henry "Hank" R. Cosby was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records...

     (2006)
  • Coslow, Sam
    Sam Coslow
    Sam Coslow was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher, and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager...

     (1970)
  • Coward, Sir Noel
    Noël Coward
    Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...

     (1988)
  • Creed, Linda
    Linda Creed
    Linda Creed also known by her married name Linda Epstein, was an American singer-songwriter and lyricist who teamed up with songwriter-producer Thom Bell to produce some of the most successful Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s.-Career:Born in Philadelphia in 1949, Creed was raised in the...

     (1992)
  • Crewe, Bob
    Bob Crewe
    Bob Crewe is an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, record producer and fine artist. He is known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for The Four Seasons...

     (1985)
  • Croce, Jim
    Jim Croce
    James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...

     (1990)
  • Cropper, Steve
    Steve Cropper
    Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...

     (2005)
  • Crosby, David
    David Crosby
    David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...

     (Crosby, Stills & Nash) (2009)

D

  • Danks, Hart P.
    Hart Pease Danks
    Hart Pease Danks was a musician who specialized in composing, singing and leading choral groups. He is best known for his 1873 composition, Silver Threads Among the Gold.-Biography:...

     (1970)
  • Darin, Bobby
    Bobby Darin
    Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...

     (1999)
  • David, Hal
    Hal David
    Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...

     (1972)
  • David, Mack
    Mack David
    Mack David was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning from the early 1940s through the early 1970s. Mack was credited with writing lyrics and/or music for over one thousand songs...

     (1975)
  • Davis, Benny
    Benny Davis
    Benny Davis was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. He composed the classic 1926 standard "Baby Face" with Harry Akst.-Life and career:...

     (1975)
  • Davis, Mac
    Mac Davis
    Mac Davis is a country music singer, songwriter, and actor originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much crossover success...

     (2006)
  • De Koven, Reginald
    Reginald de Koven
    Henry Louis Reginald De Koven was an American music critic and prolific composer, particularly of comic operas.-Biography:...

     (1970)
  • De Paul, Gene
    Gene de Paul
    Gene de Paul was an American pianist, composer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in New York City, he served in the United States Army during World War II....

     (1985)
  • De Rose, Peter (1970)
  • De Sylva, B.G. (Buddy)
    Buddy De Sylva
    George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs he founded Capitol Records.-Biography:...

     (1970)
  • Deacon, John
    John Deacon
    John Richard Deacon is a retired English multi-instrumentalist and song writer, best known as the bassist for the rock band Queen. Of the four members of the band, he was the last to join and also the youngest, being only 19 years old when he was recruited by the other members of the band...

     (Queen
    Queen (band)
    Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

    ) (2003)
  • DeLange, Eddie
    Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

     (1989)
  • Dennis, Matt
    Matt Dennis
    Matt Dennis was a singer, pianist, bandleader, arranger, and writer of music for popular music songs.He was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother was a violinist and his father a singer, and the family was in vaudeville, so he was early exposed to music. In 1933 he joined Horace Heidt's...

     (2010)
  • Denver, John
    John Denver
    Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

     (1996)
  • DeShannon, Jackie
    Jackie DeShannon
    Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...

     (2010)
  • Diamond, Neil
    Neil Diamond
    Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....

     (1984)
  • Dietz, Howard
    Howard Dietz
    Howard Dietz was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist.-Biography:Dietz was born in New York City and studied journalism at Columbia University...

     (1972)
  • Dixon, Mort
    Mort Dixon
    -Biography:Born in New York, Dixon began writing songs in the early 1920s, and was active into the 1930s. He achieved success with his first published effort, 1923's "That Old Gang of Mine". His chief composer collaborators were Ray Henderson, Harry Warren, Harry M...

     (1970)
  • Domino Jr., Antoine ("Fats")
    Fats Domino
    Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....

     (1998)
  • Donaldson, Walter
    Walter Donaldson
    Walter Donaldson was a prolific United States popular songwriter, composing many hit songs of the 1910s and 1920s.-History:...

     (1970)
  • Dozier, Lamont
    Lamont Dozier
    Lamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...

     (1988)
  • Drake, Ervin
    Ervin Drake
    Ervin Drake, born Ervin Maurice Druckman is an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "It Was a Very Good Year". He has written in a variety of styles and his work has been recorded by musicians from all over the world in a multitude of styles...

     (1983)
  • Dresser, Paul
    Paul Dresser
    Johann Paul Dresser, Jr. was a popular American songwriter of the late 19th century and early 20th century. As a child and adolescent he was frequently in trouble and spent several months in jail before joining a band of traveling minstrels...

     (1970)
  • Dreyer, Dave
    Dave Dreyer
    Dave Dreyer is a composer and pianist born on September 22, 1894 in Brooklyn, New York. He died on March 2, 1967 in New York City. He started off as a pianist with vaudeville greats such as Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Belle Baker, and Frank Fay. In 1923 he worked for the Irving Berlin Music Company....

     (1970)
  • Dubin, Al
    Al Dubin
    Alexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...

     (1970)
  • Duke, Vernon
    Vernon Duke
    Vernon Duke was a Russian-American composer/songwriter, who also wrote under his original name Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for "Taking a Chance on Love" with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche, "I Can't Get Started" with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, "April in Paris" with lyrics by E. Y...

     (1970)
  • Dunn, Larry
    Larry Dunn
    Larry Dunn is a keyboardist, musical director and one of the founding members of the music group Earth, Wind, & Fire. Dunn, along with other members of Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.-Career:...

     (Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

    ) (2010)
  • Dylan, Bob
    Bob Dylan
    Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

     (1982)

E

  • Ebb, Fred
    Fred Ebb
    Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera....

     (1983)
  • Edwards, Gus
    Gus Edwards (songwriter)
    Gus Edwards was an American songwriter and vaudevillian. He also organised his own theatre companies and was a music publisher.-Early life:...

     (The Star Maker) (1970)
  • Egan, Raymond B.
    Raymond B. Egan
    Raymond Blanning Egan was a songwriter. He moved to the United States in 1892 and settled in Michigan where he attended the University of Michigan. His first job was a bank clerk, but he soon moved onto be a staff writer for Ginnells Music Co...

     (1970)
  • Eliscu, Edward
    Edward Eliscu
    Edward Eliscu was a lyricist, playwright, producer and actor. He attended the City College of New York where he attained a Bachelor of Science degree. He then began acting in Broadway plays...

     (1975)
  • Ellington, Duke
    Duke Ellington
    Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

     (1971)
  • Emmett, Daniel Decatur (1970)
  • Evans, Ray
    Ray Evans
    Raymond Bernard Evans was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films...

     (1977)

F

  • Fain, Sammy
    Sammy Fain
    Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...

     (1972)
  • Fields, Dorothy
    Dorothy Fields
    Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...

     (1971)
  • Fiorito, Ted
    Ted Fiorito
    Theodore Salvatore Fiorito , known professionally as Ted Fio Rito, was an American composer, orchestra leader and keyboardist who was popular on national radio broadcasts in the 1920s and 30s...

     (1970)
  • Fisher, Fred
    Fred Fisher
    Fred Fisher was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Fisher founded Fred Fisher Music Publishing Company in 1907. He was born as Albert von Breitenbach in Cologne...

     (1970)
  • Fogerty, John
    John Fogerty
    John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...

     (2005)
  • Foster, David
    David Foster
    David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...

     (2010)
  • Foster, Stephen
    Stephen Foster
    Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...

     (1970)
  • Fox, Charles
    Charles Fox (composer)
    Charles Ira Fox is an American composer for film and television. His most heard compositions are probably the "love themes" , and the dramatic theme music to ABC's Wide World of Sports and the original Monday Night Football.....

     (2004)
  • Freed, Arthur
    Arthur Freed
    Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...

     (1972)
  • Frey, Glenn
    Glenn Frey
    Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

     (2000)
  • Friml, Rudolf
    Rudolf Friml
    Rudolf Friml was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, Friml moved to the United States, where he became a composer...

     (1971)

G

  • Gamble, Kenneth (1995)
  • Gaudio, Bob
    Bob Gaudio
    Robert John "Bob" Gaudio is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist/backing vocalist for The Four Seasons.-Early career:...

     (1995)
  • Gershwin, George
    George Gershwin
    George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...

     (1970)
  • Gershwin, Ira
    Ira Gershwin
    Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....

     (1971)
  • Gibb, Barry
    Barry Gibb
    Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, CBE , is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed The Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major...

     (1994)
  • Gibb, Maurice
    Maurice Gibb
    Maurice Ernest Gibb, CBE was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born on the Isle of Man, the twin brother of Robin Gibb, and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers...

     (1994)
  • Gibb, Robin
    Robin Gibb
    Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE is a British singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his twin brother Maurice , and elder brother Barry....

     (1994)
  • Gilbert, L. Wolfe
    L. Wolfe Gilbert
    Louis Wolfe Gilbert was a Russian-born American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Odessa, Russian Empire, Gilbert moved to the United States as a young man and eventually established himself as one of the leading songwriters on Tin Pan Alley.Gilbert began his career touring with John L...

     (1970)
  • Gillespie, Haven
    Haven Gillespie
    James Lamont "Haven" Gillespie was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" as well as "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Breezin' Along With The Breeze", "Right or Wrong," "Beautiful Love",...

     (1972)
  • Gilmore, Patrick S.
    Patrick Gilmore
    Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore was an Irish-born composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. Whilst serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Gilmore wrote the lyrics to the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", the tune he took from an old Irish antiwar folk...

     (1970)
  • Gimbel, Norman
    Norman Gimbel
    Norman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...

     (1984)
  • Goffin, Gerry
    Gerry Goffin
    Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...

     (1987)
  • Gordon, Mack
    Mack Gordon
    Mack Gordon was an American composer and lyricist of songs for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times, including six consecutive years between 1940 and 1945, and won the award once, for "You'll Never Know"...

     (1970)
  • Green, Adolph
    Adolph Green
    Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...

     (1980)
  • Green, Al
    Al Green
    Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...

     (2004)
  • Green, Bud
    Bud Green
    Bud Green was an Austrian-born songwriter. Bud Green grew up in Harlem at 108th & Madison Ave. at the turn of the century, the eldest of seven. He dropped out of elementary school to sell newspapers and help the family...

     (1975)
  • Green, John (1972)
  • Greenaway, Roger
    Roger Greenaway
    Roger Greenaway , is a popular English songwriter, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook.-Career:...

     (2009)
  • Greenfield, Howard
    Howard Greenfield
    Howard Greenfield was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building...

     (1991)
  • Greenwich, Ellie
    Ellie Greenwich
    Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...

     (1991)
  • Grofe, Ferde
    Ferde Grofé
    Ferde Grofé was a prominent American composer, arranger and pianist. During the 1920s and 1930s, he went by the name Ferdie Grofé.-Early life:...

     (1970)
  • Guthrie, Woody
    Woody Guthrie
    Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...

     (1970)

H

  • Hall, Daryl
    Daryl Hall
    Daryl Hall is an American rock, R&B and soul singer, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of Hall & Oates . Hall scored several Billboard chart hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, and is regarded as one of the best blue eyed soul singers...

     (Hall & Oates
    Hall & Oates
    Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...

    ) (2004)
  • Hamlisch, Marvin
    Marvin Hamlisch
    Marvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only thirteen people to have been awarded Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony . He is also one of only two people to EGOT and also win a Pulitzer Prize...

     (1986)
  • Hammerstein II, Oscar
    Oscar Hammerstein II
    Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

     (1970)
  • Hammond, Albert
    Albert Hammond
    Albert Hammond OBE is a British singer, songwriter and record producer from Gibraltar.-Birth and early success:Hammond was born in London, England, where his family had been evacuated to from Gibraltar during World War II. His family returned to Gibraltar shortly after his birth, and there he grew...

     (2008)
  • Handman, Lou
    Lou Handman
    Lou Handman is a composer born in New York City on September 10, 1894 and died in Flushing, New York on December 9, 1956. In his early career toured in vaudeville shows in Australia and New York. Handman worked closely with Roy Turk...

     (1975)
  • Handy, W.C.
    W. C. Handy
    William Christopher Handy was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues"....

     (1970)
  • Hanley, James F. (1970)
  • Harbach, Otto
    Otto Harbach
    Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach was an American lyricist and librettist of about 50 musical comedies...

     (1970)
  • Harburg, E.Y. ("Yip")
    Yip Harburg
    Edgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...

     (1971)
  • Harnick, Sheldon
    Sheldon Harnick
    Sheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....

     (1971)
  • Harris, Charles K.
    Charles K. Harris
    Charles Kassel Harris was a well regarded American songwriter of popular music. During his long career, he advanced the relatively new genre, publishing more than 300 songs, often deemed by admirers as the "king of the tear jerkers"...

     (1970)
  • Hart, Lorenz
    Lorenz Hart
    Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...

     (Larry) (1970)
  • Hayes, Isaac
    Isaac Hayes
    Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

     (2005)
  • Henderson, Ray
    Ray Henderson
    Ray Henderson , was an American songwriter.Born Raymond Brost in Buffalo, New York, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley...

     (1970)
  • Henley, Don
    Don Henley
    Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...

     (2000)
  • Herbert, Victor
    Victor Herbert
    Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...

     (1970)
  • Herman, Jerry
    Jerry Herman
    Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...

     (1982)
  • Heyman, Edward
    Edward Heyman
    Edward Heyman was an American musician and lyricist, best known for his compositions "Body and Soul", "When I Fall in Love", and "For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed many songs for films.-Biography:...

     (1975)
  • Hilliard, Bob
    Bob Hilliard
    Bob Hilliard was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs; "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", "Any Day Now", "Dear Hearts and Gentle People", "Our Day Will Come", "My Little Corner of the World", and "Seven Little Girls ".-Career:Born in New York City, New York, and after...

     (1983)
  • Hoffman, Al
    Al Hoffman
    Al Hoffman , a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1984, was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number one hits through each decade, many of which are still sung and recorded today...

     (1984)
  • Holland, Brian
    Brian Holland
    Brian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...

     (1988)
  • Holland, Edward (1988)
  • Holly, Buddy
    Buddy Holly
    Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...

     (1986)
  • Howard, Harlan
    Harlan Howard
    Harlan Perry Howard was a prolific American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote a large number of popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists...

     (1997)
  • Huff, Leon (1995)

J

  • Jackson, Michael
    Michael Jackson
    Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

     (2002)
  • Jacobs Bond, Carrie
    Carrie Jacobs-Bond
    Carrie Minetta Jacobs-Bond was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter who composed some 175 pieces of popular sheet music from the 1890s through the early 1940s....

     (1970)
  • Jagger, Sir Mick
    Mick Jagger
    Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....

     (1993)
  • Jenkins, Gordon
    Gordon Jenkins
    Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...

     (1982)
  • Jennings, Will
    Will Jennings
    Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings is an American songwriter who is popularly known for writing the lyrics for "My Heart Will Go On", the theme for the film Titanic .-Life and education:...

     (2006)
  • Jobim, Antonio Carlos
    Antônio Carlos Jobim
    Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...

     (1991)
  • Joel, Billy
    Billy Joel
    William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

     (1992)
  • John, Sir Elton
    Elton John
    Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

     (1992)
  • Johnson, Howard
    Howard Johnson (lyricist)
    Howard Johnson was a song lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Songwriter , author and lyricist, Johnson was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and died in New York, New York. He was educated in high school and in private music study...

     (1970)
  • Johnson, James P.
    James P. Johnson
    James P. Johnson was an American pianist and composer...

     (1970)
  • Johnson, James W.
    James Weldon Johnson
    James Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and...

     (1970)
  • Johnston, Arthur
    Arthur Johnston (composer)
    Arthur Johnston was a composer known for such works as “Mandy, Make Up Your Mind,” "Pennies From Heaven," and many others...

     (1970)
  • Jones, Isham
    Isham Jones
    Isham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter.-Career:Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band...

     (1970)
  • Joplin, Scott
    Scott Joplin
    Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...

     (1970)

K

  • Kaempfert, Bert
    Bert Kaempfert
    Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".-Biography:He was born in Hamburg, Germany - where he received his lifelong...

     (1993)
  • Kahal, Irving
    Irving Kahal
    Irving Kahal was a popular lyricist active in the 1920's and '30's. He is best remembered for his collaborations with composer Sammy Fain which started in 1926 when Kahal was working in vaudeville sketches written by Gus Edwards...

     (1970)
  • Kahn, Gus
    Gus Kahn
    Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...

     (1970)
  • Kalmar, Bert
    Bert Kalmar
    Bert Kalmar was a Jewish American lyricist.He was born in New York, New York. He ran away from home at the age of 10 to become a magician at a tent show, and retained an interest in magic all his life. He never got much of an education, but decided to make a career in show business...

     (1970)
  • Kander, John
    John Kander
    John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...

     (1983)
  • Kennedy, Jimmy
    Jimmy Kennedy
    Jimmy Kennedy OBE was an Irish songwriter, predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer", or co-writing with the composers Michael Carr, Wilhelm Grosz and Nat Simon amongst others.-Biography:Kennedy was born near Omagh...

     (1997)
  • Kern, Jerome
    Jerome Kern
    Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...

     (1970)
  • Key, Francis Scott
    Francis Scott Key
    Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".-Life:...

     (1970)
  • King, Carole
    Carole King
    Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...

     (1987)
  • Koehler, Ted
    Ted Koehler
    Ted L. Koehler was an American lyricist.-Life and career:Koehler was born in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver but was attracted to the music business, where he started out as a theater pianist for silent films. He moved on to write for vaudeville shows and Broadway, and he also...

     (1972)
  • Kristofferson, Kris
    Kris Kristofferson
    Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...

     (1986)

L

  • Lane, Burton
    Burton Lane
    Burton Lane was an American composer and lyricist. His most popular and successful work is the musical Finian's Rainbow, "the score for which Lane will always be most remembered."-Biography:...

     (1972)
  • Lawrence, Jack
    Jack Lawrence
    Jack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...

     (1975)
  • Lecuona, Ernesto
    Ernesto Lecuona
    Ernesto Lecuona y Casado was a Cuban composer and pianist of Canarian father and Cuban mother, and worldwide fame. He composed over six hundred pieces, mostly in the Cuban vein, and was a pianist of exceptional quality....

     (1997)
  • Ledbetter, Huddie
    Leadbelly
    Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....

     (1970)
  • Lee, Miss Peggy
    Peggy Lee
    Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...

     (1999)
  • Legrand, Michel
    Michel Legrand
    Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...

     (1990)
  • Leiber, Jerry (1985)
  • Leigh, Carolyn
    Carolyn Leigh
    Carolyn Leigh was an American lyricist for Broadway, movies, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come."-Biography:...

     (1985)
  • Lennon, John
    John Lennon
    John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

     (1987)
  • Lerner, Alan Jay
    Alan Jay Lerner
    Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...

     (1971)
  • Leslie, Edgar
    Edgar Leslie
    Edgar Leslie was an American songwriter. His first song Lonesome in 1909 was an immediate success, recorded by the Haydn Quartet and again by Byron G. Harlan. Other notable artists he worked with are:...

     (1972)
  • Lewis, Sam
    Sam M. Lewis
    Sam M. Lewis was a Jewish-American singer and lyricist, born in New York City, New York as Samuel Levine-Biography:...

     (1970)
  • Little Richard
    Little Richard
    Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...

     (2003)
  • Livingston, Jay
    Jay Livingston
    Jay Livingston was an American composer and singer best known as half of a songwriting duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote the music and Evans the lyrics....

     (1977)
  • Livingston, Jerry
    Jerry Livingston
    Jerry Livingston was an American songwriter, and dance orchestra pianist.-Biography:...

     (1981)
  • Loesser, Frank
    Frank Loesser
    Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...

     (1970)
  • Loewe, Frederick (1972)
  • Lynn, Loretta
    Loretta Lynn
    Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...

     (2008)

M

  • MacDermot, Galt
    Galt MacDermot
    Galt MacDermot is a Canadian composer, pianist and writer of musical theatre. He won a Grammy Award for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona...

     (2009)
  • MacDonald, Ballard
    Ballard MacDonald
    Ballard MacDonald was a Tin Pan Alley lyricist.Born in Portland, Oregon, among his credits are:Beautiful Ohio, Rose of Washington Square, Second Hand Rose, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, Back Home Again in Indiana, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Play That Barbershop Chord, Clap Hands, Here Comes...

     (1970)
  • Madden, Edward
    Edward Madden
    Edward Madden was an American lyricist.Madden was born in New York City and graduated from Fordham University. After graduation he wrote material for many singers including Fanny Brice and for vaudeville acts...

     (1970)
  • Magidson, Herb
    Herb Magidson
    Herbert A. "Herb" Magidson was an American popular lyricist. His work was used in over 23 films and four Broadway reviews. He won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1934....

     (1980)
  • Mancini, Henry
    Henry Mancini
    Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...

     (1984)
  • Mandel, Johnny
    Johnny Mandel
    Johnny Mandel is an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. Among the musicians he has worked with are Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, and Shirley Horn.-Life:...

     (2010)
  • Manilow, Barry
    Barry Manilow
    Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

     (2002)
  • Mann, Barry
    Barry Mann
    Barry Mann is an American songwriter, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.-Career:...

     (1987)
  • Marks, Johnny
    Johnny Marks
    Johnny Marks was an American songwriter. Although he was Jewish, he specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many standards, including "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" , "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" , "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" , and "A Holly...

     (1981)
  • Marley, Bob
    Bob Marley
    Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

     (2010)
  • Martin, Hugh
    Hugh Martin
    Hugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St...

     (1983)
  • Masser, Michael
    Michael Masser
    Michael Masser , a former stockbroker, is a composer and producer of popular music. He attended the University of Illinois College of Law, but left to pursue his interest in music...

     (2007)
  • May, Brian
    Brian May
    Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...

     (Queen
    Queen (band)
    Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

    ) (2003)
  • Mayfield, Curtis
    Curtis Mayfield
    Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...

     (2000)
  • McCarthy, Joseph
    Joseph McCarthy (lyricist)
    Joseph McCarthy was an American lyricist whose most famous songs include You Made Me Love You, and I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, based upon the haunting melody from the middle section of Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu".McCarthy, who was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, was a frequent collaborator...

     (1970)
  • McCartney, Sir Paul
    Paul McCartney
    Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

     (1987)
  • McHugh, Jimmy
    Jimmy McHugh
    James Francis McHugh was a U.S. composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs...

     (1970)
  • McKay, Al
    Al McKay
    Al McKay is a guitarist, songwriter, producer and former member of the American funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. Al used to lead his own group Al McKay's L.A...

     (Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

    ) (2010)
  • McLean, Don
    Don McLean
    Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...

     (2004)
  • Menken, Alan
    Alan Menken
    Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...

     (2008)
  • Mercer, Johnny
    Johnny Mercer
    John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...

     (1971)
  • Mercury, Freddie
    Freddie Mercury
    Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...

     (Queen
    Queen (band)
    Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

    ) (2003)
  • Merrill, Bob
    Bob Merrill
    Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...

     (1987)
  • Meyer, George W.
    George W. Meyer
    George W. Meyer aka Geo. W. Meyer was an American Tin Pan Alley songwriter....

     (1970)
  • Meyer, Joseph
    Joseph Meyer (songwriter)
    Joseph Meyer was an American songwriter who wrote some of the most notable songs of the first half of the twentieth century....

     (1972)
  • Mitchell, Joni
    Joni Mitchell
    Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...

     (1997)
  • Monaco, Jimmy (1970)
  • Moret, Neil
    Neil Moret
    Charles N. Daniels , was a composer, occasional lyricist, and music publishing executive. He employed many pseudonyms, including Neil Moret, Jules Lemare, L'Albert, Paul Bertrand, Julian Strauss, and Sidney Carter...

     (1970)
  • Morrison, Van
    Van Morrison
    Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

     (2003)
  • Morse, Theodore
    Theodore F. Morse
    Theodore F. Morse was an American composer of popular songs.Born in Washington D.C., Morse was educated at the Maryland Military & Naval Academy. He went on to study both violin and piano. He and his wife, Theodora Morse, became a successful songwriting team for Tin Pan Alley...

     (1970)
  • Moy, Sylvia
    Sylvia Moy
    Sylvia Moy is a songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written for Stevie Wonder....

     (2006)
  • Muir, Lewis F.
    Lewis F. Muir
    Lewis F. Muir, born Louis Meuer was an American composer and ragtime pianist.Muir started as a pianist in St. Louis and played in the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. He moved to New York in 1910. His first published composition was "Play That Barber-Shop Chord" from 1910. Vaudeville entertainer...

     (1970)

N

  • Nash, Graham
    Graham Nash
    Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...

     (Crosby, Stills & Nash) (2009)
  • Nelson, Willie
    Willie Nelson
    Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

     (2001)
  • Nevin, Ethelbert (1970)
  • Newley, Anthony
    Anthony Newley
    Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...

     (1989)
  • Newman, Randy
    Randy Newman
    Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....

     (2002)
  • Noble, Ray
    Ray Noble (musician)
    Ray Noble was an English bandleader, composer, arranger and actor. Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day...

     (1996)
  • Norworth, Jack
    Jack Norworth
    Jack Norworth was a U.S. songwriter, singer and vaudeville performer.Norworth is credited as co-writer of a number of Tin Pan Alley hits. He wrote the lyrics of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in 1908, his most long lasting hit. But it wasn't until 1940 that he actually witnessed a Major...

     (1970)
  • Nyro, Laura
    Laura Nyro
    Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...

     (2010)

O

  • Oates, John
    John Oates
    John William Oates is an American rock, R&B and soul guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates ....

     (Hall & Oates
    Hall & Oates
    Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...

    ) (2004)
  • Olcott, Chauncey (1970)
  • Orbison, Roy
    Roy Orbison
    Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

     (1989)

P

  • Parish, Mitchell
    Mitchell Parish
    Mitchell Parish was an American lyricist.-Early life:Parish was born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky to a Jewish family in Lithuania. His family emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 3, 1901 on the SS Dresden when he was less than a year old...

     (1972)
  • Parton, Dolly
    Dolly Parton
    Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...

     (2001)
  • Payne, John Howard
    John Howard Payne
    John Howard Payne was an American actor, poet, playwright, and author who had most of his theatrical career and success in London. He is today most remembered as the creator of "Home! Sweet Home!", a song he wrote in 1822 that became widely popular in the United States, Great Britain, and the...

     (1970)
  • Pierpont, J.S.
    James Pierpont (musician)
    James Lord Pierpont was an American songwriter, arranger, organist, and composer, best known for writing and composing Jingle Bells in 1857, originally entitled "The One Horse Open Sleigh". He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Winter Haven, Florida...

     (1970)
  • Pinkard, Maceo
    Maceo Pinkard
    Maceo Pinkard was an American composer, lyricist, and music publisher. Among his compositions is "Sweet Georgia Brown", a popular standard for decades after its composition and famous as the theme of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.Pinkard was inducted in the National Academy of...

     (1984)
  • Pollack, Lew
    Lew Pollack
    Lew Pollack was a song composer active during the 1920s and the 1930s.Pollack was born in New York. Among his best known songs are "Charmaine" and "Diane" with Ernö Rapée, "Miss Annabelle Lee", "Two Cigarettes in the Dark", "At the Codfish Ball" , and Go In and Out The Window, now a...

     (1970)
  • Pomus, Jerome "Doc"
    Doc Pomus
    Jerome Solon Felder, better known as Doc Pomus , was a twentieth-century American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category of non-performer in 1992. He was also inducted into...

     (1992)
  • Porter, Cole
    Cole Porter
    Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

     (1970)
  • Porter, David
    David Porter (musician)
    David Porter is an American soul musician. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes at Stax Records during the 1960s...

     (2005)

R

  • Rado, James (2009)
  • Ragni, Gerome
    Gerome Ragni
    Gerome Bernard Ragni was an American actor, singer and songwriter, best known as the co-author of the groundbreaking 1960s Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.-Early life:...

     (2009)
  • Rainger, Ralph
    Ralph Rainger
    Ralph Rainger was an American composer of popular music principally for films.-Biography:Born Ralph Reichenthal in New York City, Rainger embarked on a legal career before escaping to Broadway where he became Clifton Webb's accompanist...

     (1970)
  • Randazzo, Teddy
    Teddy Randazzo
    Teddy Randazzo was a NYC born pop songwriter who composed 1960s hit songs such as "Goin' Out of My Head", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", and "Hurt So Bad"...

     (2007)
  • Raye, Don
    Don Raye
    Don Raye , born Donald MacRae Wilhoite, Jr., in Washington, D.C., was an American vaudevillian and songwriter, best known for his songs for the Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", "The House of Blue Lights", "Just For A Thrill" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."While known for...

     (1985)
  • Razaf, Andy (1972)
  • Redding, Otis
    Otis Redding
    Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...

     (1994)
  • Rehbein, Herb (1993)
  • Revel, Harry
    Harry Revel
    Harry Revel was an English composer of musical theatre.Revel was born in London. Before emigrating to the United States in 1929, he wrote musicals for productions in Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna and London....

     (1970)
  • Rexford, Eben E.
    Eben E. Rexford
    Eben Eugene Rexford was an American writer and poet, and author of lyrics to popular and gospel songs.Born in Johnsburg, New York, he moved with his family to Ellington, Wisconsin in 1855. His first poems were published in the New York Ledger when Rexford was 14...

     (1970)
  • Rice, Sir Tim
    Tim Rice
    Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...

     (1999)
  • Richards, Keith
    Keith Richards
    Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...

     (1993)
  • Richie, Lionel
    Lionel Richie
    Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

     (1994)
  • Robin, Leo
    Leo Robin
    Leo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...

     (1972)
  • Robinson, Smokey
    Smokey Robinson
    William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...

     (1990)
  • Rodgers, Jimmie
    Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
    James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...

     (1970)
  • Rodgers, Richard
    Richard Rodgers
    Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

     (1970)
  • Romberg, Sigmund
    Sigmund Romberg
    Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...

     (1970)
  • Rome, Harold (1982)
  • Root, George F. (1970)
  • Rose, Billy
    Billy Rose
    William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...

     (1970)
  • Rose, Fred
    Fred Rose (musician)
    Fred Rose was an American Hall of Fame songwriter and music publishing executive.-Biography:Born in Evansville, Indiana, Fred Rose started playing piano and singing as a small boy. In his teens, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked in bars busking for tips, and finally vaudeville...

     (1985)
  • Rose, Vincent
    Vincent Rose
    Vincent Rose was a musician and band leader.Vincent Rose has one of the longest histories as a band leader. He achieved much popularity with his Montmartre Orchestra in the 1920s, and recorded with the group for RCA...

     (1970)
  • Ross, Jerry
    Jerry Ross (composer)
    Jerry Ross was an American lyricist and composer whose works with Richard Adler for the musical theater include The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, winners of Tony Awards in 1955 and 1956 respectively in both the "Best Musical" and "Best Composer and Lyricist" categories.-Biography:Ross was born...

     (1982)
  • Ruby, Harry
    Harry Ruby
    Harry Ruby was a Jewish American songwriter and screenwriter.After failing in his early ambition to become a professional baseball player,...

     (1970)
  • Russell, Bob
    Bob Russell (songwriter)
    Sidney Keith "Bob" Russell, was an American songwriter born in Passaic, New Jersey.In 1968, Russell along with songwriting partner Quincy Jones was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category...

     (1970)
  • Rzeznik, John (2008)

S

  • Sager, Carole Bayer
    Carole Bayer Sager
    Carole Bayer Sager is an American lyricist, songwriter, singer, and painter.-Introduction:Born in New York City, Sager graduated from New York University, where she majored in English, dramatic arts and speech...

     (1987)
  • Sambora, Richie
    Richie Sambora
    Richard Stephen "Richie" Sambora is an American rock guitarist, producer, musician, singer, and songwriter who is the longtime lead guitarist of the rock band, Bon Jovi. He and frontman Jon Bon Jovi form the primary songwriting unit of the band...

     (2009)
  • Schwartz, Arthur
    Arthur Schwartz
    Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer.Schwartz supported his legal studies at New York University and postgraduate studies at Columbia University by playing piano before concentrating his talents on vaudeville, Broadway theatre and Hollywood.Among his Broadway musicals are The...

     (1972)
  • Schwartz, Jean
    Jean Schwartz
    Jean Schwartz was a songwriter.Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old...

     (1970)
  • Schwartz, Stephen
    Stephen Schwartz (composer)
    Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...

     (2009)
  • Sebastian, John
    John Sebastian
    John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...

     (2008)
  • Sedaka, Neil
    Neil Sedaka
    Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...

     (1983)
  • Seeger, Pete
    Pete Seeger
    Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

     (1972)
  • Sherman, Richard M.
    Richard M. Sherman
    Richard Morton Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical film with his brother Robert Bernard Sherman....

     (2005)
  • Sherman, Robert B.
    Robert B. Sherman
    Robert Bernard Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical films with his brother Richard Morton Sherman...

     (2005)
  • Shuman, Mort
    Mort Shuman
    Mort Shuman was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including "Viva Las Vegas"...

     (1992)
  • Sigman, Carl
    Carl Sigman
    Carl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...

     (1972)
  • Simon, Carly
    Carly Simon
    Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...

     (1994)
  • Simon, Paul
    Paul Simon
    Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

     (1982)
  • Simpson, Valerie (2002)
  • Skylar, Sunny
    Sunny Skylar
    Sunny Skylar was an American composer, singer, lyricist, and music publisher. He was born Selig Shaftel in Brooklyn, New York. As a singer, he appeared with a number of big bands, including those led by Ben Bernie, Paul Whiteman, Abe Lyman, George Hall and Vincent Lopez...

     (2010)
  • Smith, Harry B.
    Harry B. Smith
    Harry Bache Smith was a writer, lyricist and composer. The most prolific of all American stage writers, he is said to have written over 300 librettos and more than 6000 lyrics. Some of his best-known works were librettos for the composer Victor Herbert...

     (1970)
  • Smith, Samuel Francis
    Samuel Francis Smith
    Samuel Francis Smith, , Baptist minister, journalist and author, is best known for having written the lyrics to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", which he entitled America.-Early life:...

     (1970)
  • Snider, Todd
    Todd Snider
    Todd Daniel Snider is an American singer-songwriter with a musical style that combines Americana, alt-country, and folk.-Biography:...

     (2008)
  • Snyder, Ted
    Ted Snyder
    Theodore Frank Snyder , was a U.S. composer, lyricist, and music publisher . His hits include "The Sheik of Araby" and "Who's Sorry Now?" . In 1970, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame...

     (1970)
  • Sondheim, Stephen
    Stephen Sondheim
    Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...

     (1975)
  • Sousa, John Phillip (1970)
  • Spector, Phil
    Phil Spector
    Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....

     (1997)
  • Bruce Springsteen
    Bruce Springsteen
    Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

     (1999)
  • Steiner, Max
    Max Steiner
    Max Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...

     (1995)
  • Sterling, Andrew B.
    Andrew B. Sterling
    Andrew B. Sterling was an American lyricist.Born in New York City, after he graduated from high school, he began writing songs and vaudevilles. An important event was his meeting with the composer Harry Von Tilzer in 1898...

     (1970)
  • Stillman, Al
    Al Stillman
    Al Stillman was an American lyricist.-Biography:Stillman was born in New York City. His name was originally Albert Silverman, but changed it to that of a well-known New York banking family. He was Jewish. He attended New York University. After graduation, he contributed to Franklin P...

     (1982)
  • Stills, Stephen
    Stephen Stills
    Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...

     (Crosby, Stills & Nash) (2009)
  • Sting (2002)
  • Stock, Larry
    Larry Stock
    Larry Stock was a songwriter. He co-wrote the Fats Domino hit "Blueberry Hill", the Dean Martin hit "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Morning Side of the Mountain", and "You Won't Be Satisfied ". He was born in New York City. His mother emigrated to the USA from Erlich, near Budapest in...

     (1998)
  • Stoller, Mike (1985)
  • Stone, Jesse
    Jesse Stone
    Jesse Stone was an American rhythm and blues musician and songwriter whose influence spanned a wide range of genres...

     (2010)
  • Strayhorn, Billy
    Billy Strayhorn
    William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...

     (1984)
  • Strong, Barrett
    Barrett Strong
    Barrett Strong is an American singer and songwriter. Strong was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, although he is best remembered for his work as a songwriter, particularly in association with producer Norman Whitfield.-His career:Strong was among the first artists signed to Berry...

     (2004)
  • Strouse, Charles
    Charles Strouse
    Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...

     (1985)
  • Styne, Jule
    Jule Styne
    Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...

     (1972)

T

  • Taupin, Bernie
    Bernie Taupin
    Bernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...

     (1992)
  • Taylor, James
    James Taylor
    James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

     (2000)
  • Taylor, Roger
    Roger Meddows-Taylor
    Roger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...

     (Queen
    Queen (band)
    Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

    ) (2003)
  • Tierney, Harry A.
    Harry Tierney
    Harry Austin Tierney was a successful American composer of musical theatre, best known for long-running hits such as Irene , Broadway's longest-running show of the era , Kid Boots and Rio Rita , one of the first musicals to be turned into a talking picture .Born...

     (1970)
  • Tobias, Charles
    Charles Tobias
    -Biography:Born in New York City, Tobias grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts with brothers Harry Tobias and Henry Tobias, also songwriters.He started his musical career in vaudeville. In 1923, he founded his own music publishing firm and worked on Tin Pan Alley...

     (1970)
  • Tobias, Harry
    Harry Tobias
    Harry Tobias was an American lyricist. Like his younger brother Charles, he is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame....

     (1983)
  • Turk, Roy
    Roy Turk
    Roy Kenneth Turk was an American songwriter. A lyricist, he frequently collaborated with composer Fred E. Ahlert – their popular 1928 song "Mean to Me" has become a jazz standard. He worked with many other composers, including for film lyrics...

     (1970)

V

  • Van Alstyne, Egbert
    Egbert Van Alstyne
    Egbert Anson Van Alstyne was a United States songwriter and pianist. Van Alstyne was the composer of a number of popular and ragtime tunes from the early 20th century.He was born in Marengo, Illinois...

     (1970)
  • Van Heusen, Jimmy (1971)
  • Von Tilzer, Albert
    Albert Von Tilzer
    Albert Von Tilzer was an American songwriter, the younger brother of fellow songwriter Harry Von Tilzer. He wrote the music to many hit songs, including, most notably, "Take Me Out To The Ball Game"....

     (1970)
  • Von Tilzer, Harry
    Harry Von Tilzer
    Harry Von Tilzer was a very popular United States songwriter.-Biography:Von Tilzer was born in Goshen, Indiana under the name Aaron Gumbinsky which he shortened to Harry Gumm. He ran away and joined a traveling circus at age 14, where he took his new name by adding 'Von' to his mother's maiden...

     (1970)

W

  • Waller, Thomas ("Fats")
    Fats Waller
    Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...

     (1970)
  • Ward, Samuel A.
    Samuel A. Ward
    Samuel Augustus Ward was an American organist and composer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Ward studied music in New York and became an organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark in 1880. He is remembered for his hymn "Materna" which was used for the anthem "America the Beautiful", with words by...

     (1970)
  • Warren, Diane
    Diane Warren
    Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...

     (2001)
  • Warren, Harry
    Harry Warren
    Harry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...

     (1971)
  • Washington, Ned
    Ned Washington
    Ned Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...

     (1972)
  • Wayne, Mabel
    Mabel Wayne
    Mabel Wayne was an American songwriter. She is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where she is credited as being the first woman composer to publish a hit song....

     (1972)
  • Webb, Jimmy
    Jimmy Webb
    Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...

     (1986)
  • Webber, Sir Andrew Lloyd
    Andrew Lloyd Webber
    Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

     (1995)
  • Webster, Paul Francis
    Paul Francis Webster
    Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...

     (1972)
  • Weil, Cynthia
    Cynthia Weil
    Cynthia Weil is a prominent American songwriter. She is famous for having written many songs together with her husband Barry Mann....

     (1987)
  • Weill, Kurt
    Kurt Weill
    Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...

     (1970)
  • Weinstein, Bobby
    Bobby Weinstein
    Bobby Weinstein is an American songwriter, singer, and music industry executive, whose hit songs, mostly co-written with Teddy Randazzo, include "Goin' Out Of My Head", "It's Gonna Take A Miracle", and "I'm On The Outside "....

     (2007)
  • Weiss, George David
    George David Weiss
    George David Weiss was an American songwriter and former President of the Songwriters Guild of America.-Career:...

     (1984)
  • Wenrich, Percy
    Percy Wenrich
    Percy Wenrich was a United States composer of ragtime and popular music.Born in Joplin, Missouri, he left for Chicago in 1901 and moved on to New York City around 1907 to work as a Tin Pan Alley composer, but his music retains a Missouri folk flavor...

     (1970)
  • White, Maurice
    Maurice White
    Maurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...

     (Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

    ) (2010)
  • White, Verdine
    Verdine White
    Verdine White is the bassist for Earth, Wind & Fire and the younger brother of fellow band member Maurice White. White is known for his high energy and dancing while playing his bass guitar during Earth, Wind & Fire concerts.-Early life:...

     (Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire
    Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

    ) (2010)
  • Whitfield, Norman
    Norman Whitfield
    Norman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Berry Gordy's Motown label during the 1960s...

     (2004)
  • Whiting, Richard
    Richard A. Whiting
    Richard Armstrong Whiting was a composer of popular songs including the standards, "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" & "On the Good Ship Lollipop"....

     (1970)
  • Wilder, Alec
    Alec Wilder
    Alec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...

     (1983)
  • Williams, Clarence (1970)
  • Williams, Hank (1970)
  • Williams, John (1998)
  • Williams, Paul
    Paul Williams (songwriter)
    Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...

     (2001)
  • Williams, Spencer
    Spencer Williams
    Spencer Williams was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs "Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New Baby", "Everybody Loves My Baby", "Tishomingo Blues", "Careless Love", and many...

     (1970)
  • Willson, Meredith
    Meredith Willson
    Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...

     (1982)
  • Wilson, Brian
    Brian Wilson
    Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

     (2002)
  • Winner, Septimus (Sep)
    Septimus Winner
    Septimus Winner is best known as a songwriter of the nineteenth century. He used his own name, and also the pseudonyms Alice Hawthorne, Percy Guyer, Mark Mason, Apsley Street, and Paul Stenton...

     (1970)
  • Withers, Bill
    Bill Withers
    William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...

     (2005)
  • Wonder, Stevie
    Stevie Wonder
    Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

     (1983)
  • Woods, Harry M.
    Harry M. Woods
    Henry MacGregor Woods was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and pianist. Woods is sometimes credited as Harry Woods.-Early life:...

     (1970)
  • Work, Henry C.
    Henry Clay Work
    Henry Clay Work was an American composer and songwriter.-Biography:He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, to Alanson and Amelia Work. His father opposed slavery, and Work was himself an active abolitionist and Union supporter...

     (1970)
  • Wrubel, Allie
    Allie Wrubel
    Allie Wrubel was an American composer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in Middletown, Connecticut, Wrubel attended Wesleyan University and Columbia University before working in dance bands. He began his musical career in Greenwich Village, New York where he roomed with his close friend James Cagney...

     (1970)

Y

  • Yellen, Jack
    Jack Yellen
    Jack Selig Yellen was an American lyricist and screenwriter.-Life and career:Born in Poland, Yellen emigrated with his family to the United States when he was five years old. The oldest of seven children, he was raised in Buffalo, New York and began writing songs in high school...

     (1972)
  • Youmans, Vincent
    Vincent Youmans
    Vincent Youmans was an American popular composer and Broadway producer.- Life :Vincent Millie Youmans was born in New York City on September 27, 1898 and grew-up on Central Park West on the site where the Mayflower Hotel once stood. His father, a prosperous hat manufacturer, moved the family to...

     (1970)
  • Young, Joe (1970)
  • Young, Rida Johnson
    Rida Johnson Young
    Rida Johnson Young was an American playwright, songwriter and librettist. In her career, Young wrote over thirty plays and musicals, and over 500 songs. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970...

     (1970)
  • Young, Victor
    Victor Young
    Victor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...

    (1970)
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