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Phil Collins, who was inducted a few years back, received the Johnny Mercer Legend Award.

"I'm very, very proud of it. I've worked hard," said Collins. "You know, I've written some good songs and I've written some dogs, you know. And the good songs stick and the dogs go away."

Hipster-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who is enjoying his second act, was also inducted.

Judy Collins turned out to sing Cohen's praises.

"He writes things that are very essential for everybody's lives. I think there's nothing, nobody like him," said Judy Collins.

Love was in the air and on the arm of inductee David Foster.

"You know my sister e-mailed me, she said, 'Congratulations! You're going into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame!' Which I'm already in. And I had to correct her. I said, 'No, this is just the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Not just Canadian, American Hall of Fame. It's the world. And it's a pretty big deal," said Foster.

Billy Joel's longtime collaborator, Phil Ramone, received the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award.

"He knows what makes a good song," said Joel. "He's worked in so many different musical genres: jazz, classical, standards, rock 'n' roll, pop, blues. I mean, you name it he's done it all."

"It's part of the make-up of myself, being associated with great songwriters, and I think that's probably the most exciting part of it," said Ramone.

It may be spring in New York but for Earth, Wind & Fire it was September. Overall, it was a night when the whole world sang along with the people who gave them the words and the melodies.