Post Malone says that a little booze, a few shrooms, and some fooling around with the guitar is one recipe for writing a hit song.
The hitmaker spoke to AFP as a special recipient at Thursday’s gala inducting new members into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where Cuban-American Gloria Estefan became the first Latina musician inducted.
The institution, which includes a who’s who of music, foregoes a broadcast event in favor of a spectacular dinner and intimate concert in a Manhattan hotel ballroom.
Two of the scheduled inductees, Nigerian-British musician Sade Adu and Calvin Broadus, aka rapper Snoop Dogg, opted out of the 52nd annual ceremony, deferring their awards to future years.
Nonetheless, the night featured five writers responsible for some of pop culture’s most memorable tunes.
The Grammy-winning Estefan has sold over 100 million songs worldwide and has received numerous awards, including induction into the Kennedy Center and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“This one is very special,” Estefan told AFP, “because I’ve gotten through the hardest parts of my life listening to other songwriters.”
“To be able to have our words reach other people’s minds and hearts is a really big privilege and a blessing that I don’t take lightly.”
Glen Ballard co-wrote tracks including Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Alanis Morissette’s acclaimed LP “Jagged Little Pill.”
Speaking on the red carpet, he called the honor “incredibly validating.”
“You write songs for 50 years, and you get an honor like this, and you feel like, ‘I wasn’t wasting my time after all!'” Ballard said with a laugh.
Jeff Lynne, best known for his work with Tom Petty, including “Free Fallin’,” and Liz Rose, best known for her frequent collaborations with Taylor Swift, were both inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining John Lennon, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder.
Teddy Riley, whose immense influence on R&B included coining the genre New Jack Swing, rounded out the class of 2023.
“This is the greatest honor — I’ve got a star in Hollywood, and so many other things, but this meant the most, Riley said on stage before launching into a rollicking medley of his greatest hits, including “No Diggity.”
“Because at the end of the day, it is about the song.”
