Prince has been posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The induction took place on Saturday, July 27th at a 40th anniversary screening of Prince’s Purple Rain at the Target Center in his native Minneapolis. His induction marks the second time the Songwriters Hall of Fame has awarded an artist posthumously after inducting the late Cindy Walker in April.
Prince was inducted by Gilbert Davidson, a longtime colleague of the musician, who then bestowed the award to Prince’s sister, Sharon Nelson. “You will always remember his songs,” Nelson told the crowd. “This is the award he wanted more than any other in life — to be known as a great songwriter.”
Prince was originally supposed to be inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame a few different times — the organization’s policy requires that the songwriter must attend both the annual induction and the awards gala to be officially inducted, and Prince never had the time in his schedule to make both events. He was, however, finally set to attend them in 2016, until he passed away in April of that year — two months before the gala.
“He reached out at the end of 2015 and said how important the award was to him,” said Songwriters Hall of Fame president and CEO Linda Moran. “It has been a long road, but we are thrilled that one of the world’s most prolific and phenomenal songwriters is finally a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.”
Prince was undoubtedly one of the most successful and acclaimed songwriters in history. He began his career helping craft what became known as the “Minneapolis Sound” alongside André Cymone, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis. When his solo career kicked off in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Prince skyrocketed to becoming one of the most visionary artists of the decade and beyond, and has been credited with writing every song in his catalogue. Prince also wrote dozens of songs for other artists (and had his songs covered), including notable hits by Chaka Khan, Madonna, Stevie Nicks, Sinéad O’Connor, Kate Bush, and many more.
As an even bigger celebration of Prince’s catalogue, it was announced earlier this year that Ryan Coogler will be producing a new jukebox musical film that will showcase Prince’s songs. Meanwhile, a musical adaptation of Prince’s opus, Purple Rain — which we named as the greatest album of all time — is in the works as well.
Earlier this year, the Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted R.E.M., Timbaland, Dean Pitchford, Hillary Lindsey, and Steely Dan — including a posthumous induction for the late Walter Becker — as its class of 2024. R.E.M. performed at the ceremony, marking their first reunited show in 15 years.