R.E.M. reunite at Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony also honoring Timbaland and Steely Dan

NEW YORK — A comet must have landed at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Jason Isbell covered the group’s hit, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” Afterward he joked, “I’ve never said that many words that quickly in my whole life.” Nashville hitmaker Hillary Lindsey, who helped write “Girl Crush” for Little Big Town and “Jesus, Take the Wheel” for Carrie Underwood, was inducted along with Dean Pitchford, who helped Kenny Loggins with the megahit “Footloose” and co-wrote “Fame” and “Holding Out For a Hero.” The Bacon Brothers, the folk-rock duo of actor Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon, introduced Pitchford with a rambunctious take on “Footloose,” tambourine and all. Phish frontman Trey Anastasio covered Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne” and “Reelin’ in the Years.” Their “real genius” is their songs, Anastasio said. it was beyond, was I pretty, was I liked.” Receiving the award “validates my entire career,” she said before leading the crowd in a stripped down version of her hit, “Nobody Gets Me.” Carrie Underwood honored Lindsey, one of her longtime songwriters she called “the queen of modern Nashville songwriters,” before jumping into a full-band rendition of the tearjerker, “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” Lindsey joked that the first song she wrote “was probably about poops and boogers and things,” later describing a childhood spent singing into anything in the house, including “my mom’s tampons.” “Country done come to town y’all,” she said, before playing a short medley of songs she co-wrote, including Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons” and a duet with Keith Urban on his “Blue Ain’t Your Color.” Missy Elliott shouted out the late rapper Magoo for introducing her to Timbaland in an energetic introduction to her longtime writing and production partner, noting he had “a gift.” “Timbaland literally changed the cadence of the time, because he also treated hip hop records like R&B records,” she said. He conducted a group of musicians in a medley of some of his most recognizable songs including Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody,” Ginuwine’s “Pony,” Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and “Suit & Tie,” Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On,” Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love” and Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous.” Paul Williams presented Diane Warren with the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor bestowed by the event, joking that artificial intelligence “worries about Diane Warren.” Andra Day performed “Stand Up for Something,” written by Warren, who previously was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001.