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Ray Davies, Donovan, Mark James, Graham Gouldman and Jim Weatherly were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on Thursday night.

Sadly, Ray Davies, lead singer and main songwriter for the Kinks, could not attend because of the death of his sister, but he accepted the honour in a video where he said he was proud to be inducted. Jon Bon Jovi was on hand to pay tribute to Davies, closing the show with performances of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night.”

Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan became an icon of folk music in the 1960s, penning such hits as “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” “Mellow Yellow” and “Sunshine Superman”. Donovan said:

I’m absolutely overwhelmed. I love it, a big shining light on all my songs, what more can I ask for?

He followed the induction by performing “Catch the Wind” with Rosanne Cash, who also honoured BMI President Del Bryant by singing her father’s song “I Still Miss Someone”. Bryant was presented with the Visionary Leadership Award.

Texan-born Mark James, the singer-songwriter behind monster hits such as Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds”, said of his songwriting approach:

If you write something that you know, if you write something that you know that happened to you, a love, hurt, or happy, or whatever, sometimes you feel that and I think you’ll know, you’ll recognize how good that is.

Martinal McBride paid tribute to James with a rendition of “Suspicious Minds”.

Artisan News caught up with Mark James at the event:

English songwriter, Graham Gouldman, is best known as a member of 10cc and for writing hits such as the Hollies’ “Bus Stop,” the Yarbirds’ “For Your Love” and Herman’s Hermits’ “No Milk Today”. He said:

If performers haven’t got a song, what are they going to sing? Like they say, it all starts with the song and everything comes after that.

The duo, A Great Big World, paid tribute to Gouldman with a performance of 10cc’s “I’m Not In Love,” which Gouldman co-wrote with Eric Stewart.

American singer-songwriter, Jim Weatherly, wrote songs for many artists but is best known for the tracks he wrote for Gladys Knight and the Pips, including “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye),” and “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”. Weatherley spoke about how songwriting came naturally to him:

With me, I had a gift. I believe that songwriting is a gift. That doesn’t mean that you can’t learn to do it crafting a song, but I used to write all my songs from a stream of consciousness. I’d just start noodling at the piano and words would come and a melody would come and 25, 30 minutes I was through.

“American Idol” winner, Candice Glover, paid tribute to Weatherly by singing “Midnight Train to Georgia”.

The night’s top honour, the Johnny Mercer Award, went to Philadelphia duo, Gamble & Huff (Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff), who have written and produced 15 gold singles and 22 gold albums. Among their best known songs are “Me and Mrs Jones,” “”If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” and “Love Train”.

Miguel was on hand to pay tribute to the duo with a performance of “Me and Mrs. Jones”.

Dan Reynolds, frontman of Imagine Dragons, received the Hal David Starlight award. The 26-year-old performed a piano version of the Grammy-winning “Radioactive,” which he penned with his bandmates.

The 2014 Towering Song Award was presented to “Over the Rainbow,” penned by Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Harold Arlen & E.Y. “Yip” Harburg.

There were also performances from Chubby Checker, Aloe Blacc, and Chita Rivera.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame Class of 2014