Tracy Chapman has been nominated to become a member of the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) class, less than two weeks after she won a CMA Award for Song of the Year for her timeless song, Fast Car.
The genres for consideration include everything from rap to soul, jazz, rock, country, and alt-rock. The 2023 Gala in New York City served as the announcement of the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) nominees.
The official press release outlining the goals and missions behind the awards states: “The Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates and honors the contributions of songwriters of all genres of music, educates the public concerning their achievements, and produces a spectrum of professional programs devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through songwriting craft forums, scholarships, digital initiatives, and Master Sessions on both coasts.”
The artistes on this year’s list include both non-performing songwriters—those who write the lyrics for other acts—and performing songwriters, who write their own music.
Some notable names on the list of performing songwriters include the well-known singer of “Fast Car,” Tracy Chapman, as well as George Clinton, and members of Steely Dan, Donald Fagan, and Walter Becker.
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Others included are Members of Blondie, Doobie Brothers, Public Enemy, Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
Although they didn’t sing the songs, the people listed below wrote the lyrics: L. Russell Brown, Dean Dillon, Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter, Hillary Lindsey, Tony Macaulay, Timothy Mosler—better known as Timbaland—Roger Nichols, Dean Pitchford, Maurice Starr, and Narada Michael Walden are among the possible honorees for non-performing songwriters, per the press release.
This time, Canadian rock musicians Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, responsible for the hits American Woman and These Eyes, as well as The Doobie Brothers—Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, and Michael McDonald—with hits like “Listen to the Music” and “Long Train Runnin”—are among the nominees for Performing Songwriter.
Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy received nominations for hit songs like Fight the Power and Bring the Noise, while David Gates, the singer of the band Bread, is up for a career that includes songs like Everything I Own and Make It With You.