Standing before a packed auditorium at the Marquis Marriott Hotel in New York City Thursday night, Justin Timberlake seemed to finally feel at home. Standing amongst his peers to accept the Contemporary Icon Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the pop star summed up the honor, saying, Being recognized by the people who work alongside me means so much to me. I think for the first time in my career, in my life, the thing that I love to do, I feel like Im in a room of people and I feel like all of us are in it together.
Timberlake capped off a night that also saw a slew of songwriting legends enter the Hall of Fame: Missy Elliott, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, R&B maestro Dallas Austin, country scribes Tom T. Hall and John Prine and early Eagles whisperer Jack Tempchin. Halsey also received the Hal David Starlight Award, pop great Carole Bayer Sager accepted the Johnny Mercer Award and publishing giant Martin Bandier was honored with the Visionary Leadership Award.
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To be honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame is to be honored purely for craft, and every inductee and award recipient seemed floored by the particular gravity of this distinction. In his speech, Timberlake spoke about visiting New York City for the first time as a teenager and realizing that music could be the thing that brought him not just to a city like New York, but to people who are just like me and now weve found each other, all the weirdos, look at us!
Timberlakes speech was poignant, earnest and often funny Church is the best place to get your start because even if you go up there and completely shit the bed, at the end, everyone says, Amen' and afterwards, he closed the night with a euphoric medley that started with Theme from New York, New York and included hits like My Love, Cry Me a River, Say Something, What Goes Around Comes Around and Mirror.
He also deftly captured the elusive magic of writing music that many of the other inductees and recipients spoke of throughout the night. Theres no feeling like finishing a song; the only feeling that can even measure up is when you actually hear someone sing it back to you, and how lucky am I that I get to do that? he said. Ive also said this, but if there is a God, then writing a song and having that experience because you heard the great Yusuf say it, youve heard everybody say it, you dont know exactly how they happen. That, if there is a God, writing a song, connecting to that meditative moment, thats the closest that I will get to Her. I feel like this is the room that really understands that.
Upon accepting the Hal David Starlight Award, Halsey similarly tapped into the potent power of songwriting, while also capturing the unique essence of a Songwriters Hall of Fame prize. Standing at the podium, the singer acknowledged she was particularly nervous because accepting a songwriting award meant that she was not accepting an award as Halsey whom she called the best version of myself but as a 24-year-old girl from New Jersey named Ashley Frangipane.
I somehow found the ability to put into words a version of myself I actually didnt mind being so much at a time where I really fucking hated myself, Frangipane said of her songwriting efforts. The Halsey that I get to be on paper, in songs and on the radio, shes cool, I like her! Shes like, pretty badass. And so now Ive immortalized a version of myself thats amazing, but underneath all that is still just me: Self-critical and vulnerable and terrified and so, so, so overwhelmingly thankful for this.
Even at four hours, the 50th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony featured plenty of highlights. Jermaine Dupri opened with a DJ set of Dallas Austins biggest tracks, before the hitmaker took the stage and recalled pitching Prince songs to Warner Bros. as an 8-year-old, and unsurprisingly getting a rejection letter that nonetheless spurred him on. Lukas Nelson performed Jack Tempchins Peaceful Easy Feeling, after which Tempchin sang his other Eagles classic, Already Gone. And Yusuf/Cat Stevens waxed philosophical on mortality and the power of songwriting before singing The Wind and Roadsinger.
Later in the show, Jason Isbell honored Tom T. Hall who could not attend, but did share a video message with a performance of Mama Bake a Pie (Daddy Kill a Chicken). And Bonnie Raitt reminisced about her Becky and Tom Sawyer adventures with John Prine in the early days of their careers before taking the stage with Prine to perform an indelible version of Angel From Montgomery.
Elsewhere, Clive Davis spoke glowingly of Carole Bayer Sager, who sang her smash Thats What Friends Are For, with special guest Patti LaBelle. And Lizzo tapped Da Brat for a bombastic cover of Missy Elliotts Sock It 2 Me to honor the iconic MC, who became the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Missy also delivered one of the nights most memorable speeches, recalling how she honed her early songwriting chops by writing on the walls of her home when she ran out of loose leaf paper (much to her mothers chagrin). And while inducting Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah offered the surprise of the night when she shared a special video message from Michelle Obama.
For her entire career, Missy has been popping into all sorts of places people didnt expect her, Obama said. Everyone told her that she wasnt gonna make it, that she didnt fit the right mold, and she didnt have the right look, that she wasnt what people expected. But Missy knew better, she knew she had something unexpected to say, and she had a feeling that people might want to hear it.
That kind of drive, originality, voice and belief were ultimately the qualities that united all the nights honorees. Much was said throughout the night about the ineffable nature of songwriting, but for the masters of this craft, theres also a concrete certainty that comes from years of work. Its a killer feeling, John Prine said during his speech, when you have a really great song in your pocket and youre the only one whos heard it.