Don Schlitz Named To Songwriters Hall of Fame

Don Schlitz

Nashville’s own Don Schlitz is among the new class of inductees for New York’s Songwriters Hall of Fame. He will be inducted at the organization’s 43rd Annual Induction and Awards Dinner on Thurs., June 14 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

Also joining the Songwriters Hall of Fame that night will be folk-pop hero Gordon Lightfoot (“Early Morning Rain,” “Sundown,” “Rainy Day People”), rock stalwart Bob Seger (“Against The Wind,“ “Turn The Page,” “Night Moves”), famed Broadway composers Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones, and theater/film/pop music composer Jim Steinman (Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell album, “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”).

“Each of our 2012 inductees has created a unique range of extraordinary contributions, a body of work that has resonated with audiences around the world, and greatly enriched our global culture,” said SHOF Chairman Jimmy Webb. “We are looking forward to celebrating their craft and careers at our Annual Awards Gala.”

Schlitz’s first recorded song “The Gambler,” sung by Kenny Rogers, won the 1978 Grammy for Country Song of the Year. Randy Travis’ classic “Forever And Ever, Amen” earned the same award in 1988.

Schlitz’s songbook includes 24 No. 1 hits: “On The Other Hand,” “I Feel Lucky,” “Houston Solution,” “One Promise Too Late,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” “40 Hour Week (For A Livin’),” “Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain,” “When You Say Nothing At All,” “Deeper Than The Holler,” “Learning To Live Again,” and “Strong Enough To Bend.”

His songs have been recorded by Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Keith Whitley, Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tanya Tucker, The Judds and many others. In 2001 he wrote the songs for the Broadway show, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This four-time ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993 and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Schlitz has won three CMA Song of the Year Awards and two ACM Song of Year Awards. Schlitz received the ASCAP Creative Achievement Award in 2007 and in 2010 was honored with the Academy of Country Music’s Poet’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Songwriting.