Songwriters Hall of Fame: Taylor Swift, RAYE, Alanis Morissette, John Fogerty, KISS & More Best Moments of 2026

Following a performance of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” by Tamar Braxton (which Taylor Swift enthusiastically danced to in the audience), the night kicked off with storied writer/producer and SHOF member Dallas Austin — himself inducted by Jermaine Dupri in 2019 — declaring his joy at seeing “another Atlanta legend take his rightful place” in the Hall of Fame: Austin’s dear friend, the five-time Grammy winner and pop, R&B and hip-hop hitmaker Christopher “Tricky” Stewart. As Austin noted, Tricky has been behind modern smashes like the aforementioned Beyoncé Hot 100 topper, Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” and Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” but more importantly, “he’s a kind-hearted person.” (Descendants actor and Republic Records artist Kylie Cantrall performed “Umbrella.”)

Tricky’s warm and humble acceptance speech traced his path in music, recalling when his mother “planted the seed for [me] to become a producer when I wanted to be a drummer,” nodding to his aunts’ and mother’s background as session singers in Chicago. “I’m honored to be part of my family’s musical lineage,” Tricky said of his own “respect for the craft of making music.” He announced his own new publishing partnership with “the BMG family” before also tributing L.A. Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds (“no one impacted me more”) and Austin himself (the best advice he ever received from him was, “If four people can’t play it, don’t add it to a song”) as crucial mentors and influences. – Rebecca Milzoff

After a pensive, folky acoustic version of their best-known hit, “What’s Love Got to Do With It” (which hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and reinvigorated Tina Turner’s career, propelling her to solo superstardom) by Madison Cunningham, Jane Seymour took the stage to introduce Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. Seymour explained how Britten – a hitmaking writer for Cliff Richard – and Lyle, formerly of ‘60s pop duo Gallagher & Lyle, offered a “fresh, inventive take” on Turner’s sound while staying true to her “musical legend” via songs such as “Two People,” “Typical Male” and the aforementioned smash. Taylor Dayne covered another one of their cowrites for Turner, “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” displaying a surprising flair for the grit and control the song demands (she truly took things well Beyond Thunderdome).

“This will be short. Jet lag’s got to me, so sorry,” Britten said before sharing that the first song this duo ever wrote together was the game-changing “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” “It’s only today I realized I didn’t thank Graham for being a great partner,” he said, admitting both of them still felt some “impostor syndrome” and that the honor was “beyond our dreams.” Of Turner, he said, “She was an amazing talent, an amazing woman and is sorely missed. She was a one-off. Even though she said I look like a leprechaun.” Lyle said the honor was especially meaningful to him given the preeminence of the song in the music business. “That little spark of an idea, which can ignite things in an amazing way: in the case of some of these songs, 40 years on, they still have relevance. The message carries on,” he said. – Joe Lynch

“It was the joy of my life to get to watch Taylor [Swift] sing some of my songs,” said Afanasieff as he accepted his statue from actor/musician Jeremy Renner, with whom he has been friends for 22 years. Swift had sung along to a gorgeous medley of some of his biggest hits delivered flawlessly by soulful singer Sheléa, including Mariah Carey’s  “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “Hero” and “My All,” as well as “One Sweet Day” from Carey and Boyz II Men. 

Afanasieff, who was born to Russian and Chinese parents in Brazil, spoke of growing up in the Bay Area and his life changing when he was six years old. “My parents bought a little radio and a song came on that changed my life. It was [the Beatles’] ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand.’ I didn’t speak English, but I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” he said, noting that 60 years later he got to produce Paul McCartney for Barbra Streisand’s latest album. He has also worked with such legendary divas as Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, for which he thanked Narada Michael Walden and Tommy Mottola respectively. He also thanked A&R executive Jay Landers, who hired Afanasieff to write, produce and arrange a number of Disney projects. “Music is the only thing I know to think of and dream of and love,” he added. “My heart beats because of music.” – Melinda Newman

The legendary Creedence Clearwater Revival founder, the recipient of the Songwriter Hall of Fame’s highest honor the Johnny Mercer Award, gave a speech for the ages that literally spanned his entire life and lasted more than 35 minutes. 

Fellow guitar great Steve Miller, who was inducted into the SHOF in 2022, called Fogerty “one of America’s most gifted and enduring songwriters [who has] forged something uniquely American.” Miller also praised Fogerty for his fight for artists’ rights, including his long battle to claim ownership of his own work. 

Fogerty then took the stage and ran through his musical life, starting with hearing Stephen Foster’s “Oh! Susanna” and “Camptown Races” when he was three, forging a lifelong love for music. That led to writing his first song, “Wash Day Blues,” on his way to school when he was eight, based on a laundry product advertisement.

“I love music! It’s supposed to be about joy; it’s supposed to be about having fun. The great ones seem to flow effortlessly,” he exclaimed, adding that the first song that ever flowed for him was “Proud Mary,” and then, remarkably, pulled out a brown book from 1967 that included the first phrases of his most beloved, well-known classic. He dissected writing the rock standard, saying he started to “actually shake and tremble,” as the words poured out of him. “It was like being struck by lightning.” 

Fogerty ran through his decades-long career— the good and bad—including releasing three hit-filled albums in one year and finding tremendous success, as well as CCR breaking up, and Fantasy Records’ Saul Zaentz then holding him to a contract that would have taken him more than 20 years to fulfill and the label suing him “for sounding like myself.” 

Finally, in 2023, Fogerty, with the help of his wife/manager Julie Fogerty and noted manager Irving Azoff, Fogerty gained worldwide control of his CCR publishing rights. As Fogerty wrapped up his speech, expressing delight in finally getting his songs, he gleefully said, “I had a plan and it was I outlived the sons of b-tches!”

Fogerty, 81, joined by his sons Shane and Tyler, then turned in an incredibly robust, full-throttle medley of “Oh! Susanna,” “Proud Mary,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and “The Old Man Down the Road.” – M.N.

Sporting a black tuxedo crossed with a trench coat and eyeliner, Billy Corgan ripped through KISS’ signature song, “Rock and Roll All Nite,” to kick off the tribute to Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the songwriters behind the outrageous rock band. Johnny Rzeznik joined him shortly thereafter for a duet on the fist-pumping “Shout It Out Loud,” another KISS classic of the sing-along meets ball-buster variety. Corgan, who counts himself among the KISS Army, hailed their “gloom and glam,” songwriting chops and 50-year partnership.

“I am humbled to be here in this eclectic and amazing group of songwriters,” Stanley said, taking the stage sans Simmons. “Unfortunately my partner of 57 years had a family emergency and is at a hospital locally and would love to be here.” After paying homage to a diverse group of songwriting duos who inspired him (Leiber and Stoller, Rodgers and Hammerstein), Stanley thanked the SHOF for the honor (which closely follows their Kennedy Center Honors) while he was still kicking: “If you love me, let me know. Don’t put it my obituary, don’t put it in my eulogy.” – J.L.

Like many of the honorees, Kenny Loggins shared the exact moment in his childhood when he realized his desire to make music. He described being 10 years old and seeing James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, the classic movie about Broadway composer George M. Cohan. “There’s a scene in the movie where he visits a famous female singer before she goes on and says, ‘I’m a songwriter I want to show you what I’ve got,’” Loggins recalled. “He sits at the piano and writes her a song and I’m watching that movie and I thought ‘I could do that.’ I have no idea why I thought I could.”

But he could, and as presenter Gavin DeGraw lightly touched upon, Loggins then went on to create some of the most memorable songs written for movies such as “I’m Alright” for Caddyshack, “Danger Zone” for Top Gun and, of course, the title theme for Footloose. “His music works so well for films because Kenny is, first and foremost, a storyteller,” said DeGraw, before performing a soulful, extended version of “Danny’s Song,” Loggin’s first hit as part of the duo Loggins & Messina.

In a sweet tribute, Loggins’ acceptance speech focused largely on his older brother Danny—”Danny’s Song” was written about his becoming a first-time father—and the vast influence his sibling had on Loggins’ musical development. “Around 1966, I had been taking guitar lessons. I got a letter from my brother who told me they just had a son… and I was so moved by that I wrote ‘Danny’s Song.’ He and [his wife] Sheila are at my table tonight. He was my first inspiration, my most important and biggest musical influence… He turned me on to Bill Haley & the Comets, Dion and the Belmonts… I had to sneak into his room to play his records before he got home. Then I would steal his guitar and learn how to play it. I would recommend if you want your kids to love music, forbid it.”

Loggins then performed “Heart to Heart,” accompanied by singer/protégé Hunter Hawkins, and DeGraw came back for a heartfelt version of “Celebrate Me Home,” which Loggins dedicated to late renowned producer, Phil Ramone. – M.N.

How to pay tribute to one of the most singular voices to come out of the ‘90s, a trailblazer for women bridging rock and pop music? Bring out one of the most singular voices and musical trailblazers of the current moment: accompanied by the fierce duo Sista Strings, Brandi Carlile turned in a performance highlight of the night with her incisive rendition of Morissette’s “Uninvited.” The haunting alternative track from the City of Angels soundtrack was an unexpected choice — and a raw reminder of Morissette’s power as a lyricist and unconventional vocalist.  

With her signature blend of heart and humor, Carlile recounted her upbringing outside Seattle at a time when “the charts were dominated by some very intense white men” and she fancied herself a grunge enthusiast — “but the truth was I was quite the dramatic young gay, and I needed to hear a woman’s voice singing rock n’ roll….and that voice came not from Seattle but from Ottawa, Canada.” In her wide-ranging appreciation of Morissette’s long and varied career, Carlile called her “a singular, once-in-a-lifetime voice,” “an empowered femme, fragile queen and everything in between” and noted her own favorite albums (Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie) and songs (“That I Would Be Good”), dialing into Morissette’s uncanny ability to telegraph emotion in both the simplest and most poetic terms. 

In her eloquent acceptance speech, Morissette focused on the power of writing, which “has always been a survival strategy for me,” confessing she has at times felt suicidal when not writing — hence her own “write or die” mantra.  She called the writing process one that “honors even as it dissects,” that “allows for the contextualization of life’s waves, storms and bright, bright sunshine.” Closing by making her case for the importance of keeping arts education in schools, Morissette then offered an intimate acoustic performance of two Jagged Little Pill classics: the poignant “Mary Jane” and “You Oughta Know” — both sung in an astoundingly supple, clear voice that seemed to have only gained power in the decades since her breakout. – R.M.

As has become the custom, Nile Rodgers — the Chic co-founder, musical multi-hyphenate and current chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame — introduced this year’s Hal David Starlight Award, given to “gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs.” In recent years, the award has gone to the likes of SZA and Post Malone, and this year was bestowed upon a musician with one of the most transformational stories and lauded albums (This Music May Contain Hope) in pop music, RAYE (who two days prior to the SHOF accepted Billboard’s Indie Spirit Award at our Indie Power Players event).

Though her speech was significantly shorter than all the others’ Thursday night, RAYE packed a lot of emotion into just a few minutes, stating simply, “I live for music,” before relating how, as a kid growing up in the rough Croydon section of London, she told her father at age 10 that she planned to become a singer, but first a songwriter. “It’s such a wild miracle when you get to tell that story and people like it or connect to it or sing it back at you — that’s when it gets really crazy,” she said, before offering special tribute to her musical family, including a grandfather who was himself a songwriter and who “had a song stolen from him” (RAYE joked that she didn’t have the money to level a lawsuit about it). She concluded with an impassioned plea for the industry to have a bigger “conversation about master royalty points for songwriters” and to allow artists to prioritize making their art over radio play, before giving a powerful, minimalist performance of one of the most maximalist songs on her new album, “Click Clack Symphony” — wearing an elegant strapless gown and, in trademark RAYE fashion, barefoot. – R.M.

After a two-song tribute (“Cardigan” and “Dear John”) from Sombr and an introduction from Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg (both are favorites of hers), Taylor Swift took the stage as the night’s final inductee. From the moment she opened her mouth, it was clear that Knicks Mania — which is currently gripping New York — had gotten the best of her. A hoarse-voiced Swift, who was courtside at Madison Square Garden Wednesday (June 10) night with fiance Travis Kelce (also present at the induction), nevertheless delivered a thoughtful, beautifully written 23-minute speech despite her strained vocal cords. (Read all about that here.) Swift, who filmed Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son,” fist-pumped during Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” and shimmied during “Rock and Roll All Nite,” explained that the evening’s performances didn’t help her vocal cord recovery: “I got to witness the amazing performances I saw tonight, and I just kept screaming and I never stopped screaming and this is what you get. I make no apologies for that — I’ve had a blast.” – J.L.