Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Diane Warren and Paul Williams were inducted into The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 14 at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.
Billy Joel, a 1992 inductee, received the Academy's highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award; Gloria and Emilio Estefan got the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award; Dionne Warwick the Hitmaker Award; and Ralph Peer (chairman/CEO of peermusic) the Abe Olman Publisher Award.
In addition, the chestnut "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," written by Leo Friedman and Beth Slater Whitson, was rewarded as the Towering Song Award while arts patron Iris Cantor (in most arts other than music) received the Patron of the Arts Award.
