Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis named to Songwriters Hall of Fame
They will be honored in June in New York City along with Berry Gordy, Babyface, Jay-Z, Max Martin and Peter Cetera and Robert Lamm of Chicago.
February 24, 2017 at 5:10AM
It's about time. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Minneapolis-launched writers and producers behind 16 No. 1 pop hits and 26 No. 1 R&B hits, will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 15 in New York City.
One of the most successful writing/producing teams in the history of modern music, Jam and Lewis have worked on hits for Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Usher, Mariah Carey, George Michael, Sounds of Blackness, Boyz II Men, Herb Alpert, the Human League, Alexander O'Neal and many others.
Former members of the hit R&B band the Time, Jam and Lewis started their behind-the-scenes career in their hometown of Minneapolis in 1982. Now based in Los Angeles, they have won five Grammys, earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, received a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP and were named ASCAP songwriters of the year nine times.
Other inductees in the 48th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremonies will be Berry Gordy, Babyface, Max Martin, Robert Lamm and Peter Cetera of Chicago, and Jay-Z.
About 400 songwriters have been previously inducted. The list includes Bob Dylan, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Smokey Robinson, Neil Diamond, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, Dolly Parton, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Paul Simon and Kris Kristofferson.
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