Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Sade, Jeff Lynne Among Songwriters Hall Of Fame 2023 Class

It’s official. Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Sade, Jeff Lynne, Glenn Ballard, Teddy Riley and Liz Rose will join the Songwriters Hall of Fame class of 2023.

This year’s inductees, selected by eligible voting members of the organization among 12 performing songwriters or songwriting teams and 12 non-performing writers or teams, will be inducted at the SHOF’s 54th annual Induction & Awards gala on June 15 in New York.

This year’s class represents a diversity of musical influence.

Snoop, whose hits include “Gin & Juice” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” is the fifth writer associated with hip-hop to be inducted, following Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Missy Elliott, and Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes. Estefan, who received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2017 and the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2019 in tandem with her husband Emilio Estefan, helped popularize Latin music around the world with hits like “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.” Soul-jazz crooner Sade brought ballads “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo,” and ELO co-founder Lynne’s “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” helped the rock band soar.

Ballard co-wrote Alanis Morissette’s blockbuster 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill” and had a hand in songwriting and recording on Michael Jackson albums “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous.” Singer, songwriter and producer Riley, creator of the New Jack Swing sound that fused the rhythms of hip-hop and dance-pop and the urban contemporary music, penned Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” and Keith Sweat’s “I Want Her.” Taylor Swift collaborator Rose co-wrote “You Belong With Me” and “Teardrops On My Guitar,” among other hits.

Bryan Adams, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer Vince Gill, Patti Smith, Steve Winwood and the members of Blondie, The Doobie Brothers, Heart and R.E.M. are among this year’s nominees who didn’t get the vote.

Non-performing songwriters who were passed over this year are Dean Dillon, Franne Golde, Roger Nichols, Dean Pitchford, Tom Snow and the writing teams of Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty, Bobby Hart/Tommy Boyce, Sandy Linzer/Denny Randell and Dan Penn/Spooner Oldham.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame, established in 1969, recognizes the work and lives of composers and lyricists. A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first significant commercial release of a song.

“The music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch… nothing, it all starts with the song and the songwriter,” said SHOF chairman Nile Rodgers.

“We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2023 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and, in their time, literally transformed music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”

The SHOF gala is not a televised event. Tickets for a seat in the room begin at $2,000 and are available through Buckley Hall Events at [email protected].