Jermaine Dupri 2nd Rapper Inducted Into Songwriters Hall of Fame

Jermaine Dupri

Jermaine Dupri Inducted Into Songwriters Hall of Fame

The 2018 Songwriters Hall of Fame class has been announced. This year, it will include John Mellencamp, Alan Jackson, Kool & the Gang and Jermaine Dupri, who will become the second hip-hop act inducted into the prestigious organization.

Dupri’s induction comes a year after Jay-Z became the first rapper to make it into the Hall. The producer’s credits include Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” and “Always Be My Baby,” Usher’s “Burn” and Monica’s “The First Night.” He also launched the record label So So Def, building careers for Jagged Edge, Kriss Kross, Bow Wow, Xscape and more.

See the complete list of inductees, along with their bios below.

Bill Anderson

Bill Anderson is the rare songwriter whose first major label cut went to No. 1 on the charts, was named Song of The Year, and sparked a writing career that is currently in its seventh decade. The song, “City Lights,” was written when Anderson was a 19-year old Georgia disc jockey and became a career-defining hit for Ray Price in 1958.  The song opened doors for him in Nashville, leading him to signing with BMI and Tree Publishing.

Anderson was far from a one-hit wonder. He followed “City Lights” with country standards like “Tips Of My Fingers,” the GRAMMY-nominated “Once A Day,” “Saginaw, Michigan,” “That’s What It’s Like To Be Lonesome,” “I Missed Me,” “Cold Hard Facts Of Life,” which earned him another GRAMMY nomination, “Mama Sang A Song,” the crossover smash, “Still,” and countless others. He was voted country Songwriter Of The Year six times during his first decade in Music City.

His success continued into the seventies with award-winning hits like “Slippin’ Away,” “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking,” “I May Never Get To Heaven,” and the disco-flavored, “I Can’t Wait Any Longer.” The eighties saw Anderson’s chart-topping career take a hiatus as he became a TV network game show host, spokesman for a national restaurant chain, and a nonstop touring Grand Ole Opry performer. In the nineties he came roaring back with a vengeance, however, as he seriously turned to co-writing for the first time.

Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, his collaborations with the newer generation of Nashville tunesmiths resulted in hits like “Wish You Were Here,” the GRAMMY-nominated “Two Teardrops,” “A Lot Of Things Different,” for Kenny Chesney, “Which Bridge To Cross (Which Bridge To Burn),” for Vince Gill and two Song Of The Year awards for “Whiskey Lullaby,” with Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss and George Straight’s “Give It Away,” in 2005 and 2007 respectfully.  He continues to write today with songs like Brad Paisley’s “Dying To See Her.”

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