20 years ago, on June 9, 2005, John Fogerty was officially inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. But his connection to the institution goes back much further—right to its founding in 1969. That’s when he received a heartfelt letter from legendary songwriter Sammy Cahn, inviting him to join what Cahn called a “brotherhood of songwriters.” Fogerty recalled, “Of course I joined right away and the rest was wait a long time… I think it was 50 years later or something I was finally noticed… That was sweet.”
In reality, it took 36 years before Fogerty was honored, but when he was, he was in great company. That 2005 class included icons like Smokey Robinson, Bill Withers and the songwriting duo Isaac Hayes and David Porter among others. That year, the Hall also recognized the timeless hit “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, and Phil Spector as The Towering Song. And the legendary Les Paul received the Lifetime Achievement Award, rounding out a celebration of songwriting greatness that had been decades in the making.
John Fogerty will rock our iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on September 19th and 20th at T-Mobile Arena.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]