Songwriters Hall of Fame

Grammy- and Academy Award-winning songwriter Will Jennings has written for a wide variety of recording artists, from English rock stars Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton to blues legend B. B. King and jazz legend Joe Sample, from beach troubadour Jimmy Buffett to American rock icon Roy Orbison. Jennings wrote a…

As a saxophone player, Cosby was a member of the jazz band that was the precursor to the Funk Brothers, the Motown studio band. As the Joe Hunter Band, Cosby was joined by legendary bassist James Jamerson, drummer Benny Benjamin, baritone sax player Mike Terry, guitarist Larry Veeder and pianist…

Sylvia Moy’s place in Motown history is cemented by her work as a writer and producer. Moy grew up on the northeast side of Detroit with her eight brothers and sisters, performing on pots and pans to keep themselves busy and musical. Once she reached school, she played jazz and…

Mac Davis has a track record as one of America’s most popular entertainers, a countrypolitan-styled singer and actor who found considerable success in both fields. In 1965, he began composing his own songs, with Glen Campbell, Bobby Goldsboro, Lou Rawls, and Kenny Rogers & the First Edition among the artists recording his work. In 1968, Elvis Presley recorded Davis’ “A Little Less Conversation,” the theme song for the current television hit Las Vegas. After notching a Top 40 hit with Davis’s “Memories,” Presley reached the Top Five in 1969 with the songwriter’s “In the Ghetto.” Davis also arranged the music for Presley’s first television special before signing his own recording contract in 1970. In that year, he released his first chart single, “Whoever Finds This, I Love You,” from his debut album, Song Painter. In 1972, Davis scored a number one pop hit with “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” which also reached the country Top 20. His crossover success continued throughout the decade, with singles like 1974’s “Stop and Smell the Roses,” 1975’s “Burnin’ Thing,” and the following year’s “Forever Lovers” scoring with listeners in both camps. Davis’s success continued in the early ’80s: “It’s Hard to Be Humble,” the title track of his 1980 album, was the first of four consecutive Top Ten country hits that culminated with his biggest country single, “Hooked on Music,” the next year. In 1990, Davis co-authored Dolly Parton’s hit “White Limozeen”; that same year, he also took over the title role in the Broadway hit The Will Rogers Follies. Will Write Songs for Food, his first LP in nearly a decade, appeared in 1994.

From his groundbreaking ’60s productions with the Delfonics to his acclaimed “70s work with the Spinners, the O’Jays and the Stylistics, Thom Bell’s elegant r&b songs and arrangements have retained their champagne effervescence and timeless appeal. Combining urban melodies with semi-classical styling, Bell ranks as one of pop music’s most sophisticated composers. Considered a principal architect of the influential “Philly Soul” sound, he co-wrote the Stylistics’ most memorable hits, including “Stop, Look and Listen,” “You Are Everything,” “Betcha By Golly Wow,” “Break Up To Make Up” and “You Make Me Feel Brand New.” Bell was similarly instrumental in the success of the Spinners, co-composing such hits as “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love,” “One of a Kind Love Affair,” “Mighty Love” and “Rubberband Man,” as well as the Spinners/Dionne Warwick duet “Then Came You.” Bell also arranged O’Jays classics like “Back Stabbers,” “Love Train” and “For the Love of Money.” The two-time Grammy winner has received numerous BMI Pop, R&B and Million Performance awards, and has also been twice honored by Billboard with their Number One Producer award. Even Madison Avenue has acknowledged the mesmerizing power of Thom Bell’s music. His composition “I’ll Be Around” has been selected as the theme for the multi-million dollar Chevrolet advertising campaign.