Dean Pitchford performs at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Photo Credit: L. Busacca, Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
Oscar-winning songwriter and screenwriter Dean Pitchford chatted about his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The 53rd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards GALA took place on June 13, 2024, at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel.
In his respected career in the entertainment industry, Pitchford has won an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for “Best Original Song” for “Fame,” and he was nominated for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, seven Grammy Awards and two Tony Awards.
His books, stage shows and movies have earned an international following, and his songs have sold over 70 million records.
Dean Pitchford red carpet interview
On getting inducted into the coveted Songwriters Hall of Fame, Pitchford remarked, “It’s a thrill. I had no idea how this happened… I am the only person out of the inductees that I don’t know. So, I don’t know how I ended up in the company of these estimable people. It was thrilling.”
Pitchford opened up to this journalist about the power of songwriting. “I think music affects people on a level that they are not even aware of,” he said. “I constantly feel a great responsibility to the people that listen to my music and are moved by it… and are carried away by it.”
“Music is transporting,” he observed. “I am thrilled to have been able to spend a career transporting people.”
For young and aspiring artists, he encouraged them to “follow the voice inside their heads.”
“Success means getting to do what you want with your life. I’ve had a successful career because I’ve always enjoyed my life… otherwise, life is too short.”
Pitchford is grateful for the perennial success of “Footloose,” and concurred that it is the gift that keeps on giving.
Live performances in honor of Dean Pitchford
Four-time Grammy award-winning recording artist Deniece Williams performed her 1984 hit “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” of “Footloose” fame, which had the whole crowd clapping to the rhythm.
Multi-award-winning actor Kevin Bacon and musician Michael Bacon, who are affectionately known as “The Bacon Brothers,” bought the house up on their feet for an electrifying performance of “Footloose” that put Kevin back in the dancing shoes of his former lead role (which is celebrating four decades this year).
The Bacon Brothers subsequently inducted Dean Pitchford and they praised his writing for “inspiring all of them to reach their dreams.”
Following his induction, Dean performed “Once Before I Go,” a piano-backed, emotional retrospective, fitting for such a momentous occasion.
The Bacon Brothers red carpet interview
Kevin Bacon remarked, “The first song I ever wrote was called ‘All the World Looks Lonely Through Lonely Eyes.’ I wrote it but I couldn’t play an instrument when I wrote it. I had the melody and the lyrics in my head so I played it for my brother and my brother figured it out.”
“Dean Pitchford is getting inducted, and he wrote the script that I was in,” Kevin recalled. “That was back in 1984, and it’s the 40th anniversary of ‘Footloose.’ I am thrilled for him.”
Michael Bacon stated, “Our band, The Bacon Brothers, is a Songwriter’s band… we live and die in the song. I put songwriters in the highest of musical pedestals.”
Kevin subsequently listed his older brother, Michael, as one of his “songwriting idols” growing up. “I could hear him in the house and you could hear the construction of those songs, and that is such an amazing thing,” Kevin noted.
“To sit down and have three minutes to tell a story and just have a guitar and some ideas. That looks like a lot of fun,” Kevin acknowledged.
To learn more about Dean Pitchford, check out his official website.