New York, June 18, 2009 – 2009 inductees to the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame included Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora; David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash of Crosby Stills & Nash, and many others. 

At the ceremony, attendees were treated to jaw-dropping performances by Bon Jovi and CSN as well as Clint Black, James Taylor, Chris Daughtry, Jason Mraz and BeBe Winans. 

Tom Jones, he of the swiveling hips, was honored with the Hitmaker award, and sang Green Green Grass, and followed that with his hit It’s Not Unusual!  Sir Tom also mentioned in his speech that he never expected to be honored by songwriters – but maybe there’ll be more to come, since he’s been writing his own songs recently. 

The evening’s biggest surprise came while singer Monica Mancini was singing Moon River: suddenly Andy Williams, who made the song famous, joined her onstage and finished the song.  Moon River received the Towering Hit award at the ceremony.

Country star Joe Nichols is preparing for his upcoming Broadway appearance in Pure Country by studying the songs and honing his acting skills, but he doesn’t yet know if he’ll be required to dance.  “If we’re doing dance numbers, that’s going to take a lot of work for me,” he said.  “A lot of work.”