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Mike Love gave thanks to his late cousin and Beach Boys bandmate and co-writer Brian Wilson during his Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in New York on Thursday night, telling the crowd of fellow writers and industry insiders that “I do feel his presence” in the room as he accepted his honor.

Love’s induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame came just a day after Wilson died Wednesday at age 82, and 25 years after Wilson himself was inducted into the Hall back in 2000.

“I especially must thank my cousin Brian Wilson,” Love said Thursday. “My first cousin by blood but brother in music, together we set the stage for some of the most successful music collaborations of all time.”

Love was inducted by John Stamos, a famously huge Beach Boys fan who’s collaborated with the band frequently. In his induction speech, Stamos said that Love chronicled “the American dream” with the songs he wrote.

Fifty-three years since their first hit single, “Listen to the Music,” raced up the charts in 1972, the Doobie Brothers are back with their 16th studio album, Walk This Road, and a 20-date tour this summer with the Coral Reefer Band that kicks off on Aug. 4 in Detroit.

The popular rock band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 and on June 12, they’ll be recognized by the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well alongside George Clinton, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Ashley Gorley, Tony Macaulay and Mike Love.

Over the years, they’ve shifted stylistically from a crunchy country-rock band to a smooth R&b/pop outfit. Both incarnations yielded massive hits, from “China Grove” and “Black Water” in the early ’70s to “Takin’ It to the Streets” and “What a Fool Believes” later in the decade. Their multi-platinum 1978 album Minute by Minute, featuring “What a Fool Believes,” earned...

Grammy-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Doobie Brothers performed an intimate set and spoke with fans at the SiriusXM Nashville studios. You can listen to the special anytime on demand on the SiriusXM app.

The Doobie Brothers:Live From SiriusXM NashvilleListen on the App

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The exclusive performance was the first time that all band members – Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald, Patrick Simmons, and John McFee – performed songs from the new “Walk This Road” album in front of an audience (SiriusXM subscribers who won the chance to attend this very special event)! The performance was captured on Tuesday, May 27 and was encored during The Doobie Brothers Takeover Weekend on Classic Vinyl.

This summer, Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band is going on tour with The Doobie Brothers. As a surprise, Coral Reefer Band lead vocalist and 10-time CMA winner Mac McAnally joined The Doobie Brothers in a crowd...

It’s a late May afternoon in Nashville, and the Doobie Brothers are holed up in a nondescript, black-curtained rehearsal space along the banks of the Cumberland River working on a live version of a new song titled “Angels and Mercy.” It’s a song about overcoming demons, and Patrick Simmons, who came up with the idea and sings lead, wants his Doobie sibling Tom Johnston to let loose on the electric guitar in the outro.

“Get mad!” Simmons barks to Johnston, like him an Og Doobie since the band...

Gold Derby's top news stories for March 10, 2025

Billy Joel postpones tour dates after surgery

Billy Joel has postponed eight stadium concerts he was scheduled to perform over the next four months because of a recent surgery for an undisclosed "medical condition."

An announcement this morning said that the singer “is expected to make a full recovery” and will undergo doctor-supervised physical therapy. “While I regret postponing any shows, my health must come first,” Joel said in the statement. “I look forward to getting back on stage and sharing the joy of live music with our amazing fans. Thank you for your understanding.” Joel is expected to resume playing concerts July 5 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. The postponed shows in Toronto, Detroit, Syracuse, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Edinburgh, and Liverpool will be rescheduled.

Netflix strikes movie deal for Stephen King's Cujo remake

Netflix is ready to take a new bite at Stephen King's Cujo.

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Only a fool believes that it’s difficult to snag tickets to The Doobie Brothers‘ summer tour, as the reunited lineup hits the road again for their 2025 “Walk This Road” Tour across North America. The legendary Southern (and Yacht) rock group will set out with Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston, John McFee and Michael McDonald in support of their upcoming new studio album of the same name (the group...

George Clinton, The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, and The Doobie Brothers are among the 2025 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Other members of the 2025 class include producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Ashley Gorley, and Tony Macaulay.

Key songs in Clinton’s catalog cited by the Songwriters Hall of Fame include “Atomic Dog,” “Flash Light,” and “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” while Love is being recognized for Beach Boys hits like “California Girls” and “Good Vibrations.”

Meanwhile, Doobie Brothers members Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald, and Patrick Simmons are being credited for songs like “What a Fool Believes,” “Black Water,” and “Listen to the Music.”

Gorley’s work includes the Post Malone and Morgan Wallen collab “I Need Some Help,” while Macaulay wrote “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” and “Build Me Up Buttercup” for the Foundations.

Jerkins produced some of the biggest R&b hits...

The Songwriters Hall of Fame has announced the 26 nominees for induction at the June 12, 2025, awards gala in New York City. Songwriters are eligible 20 years after their first significant commercial release of a song. Members will vote for six winners — three songwriters and three performing songwriters — until midnight on the east coast on December 22, 2024. Who do you think deserves to enter the Song Hall?

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Walter Afanasieff

Key songs in the Afanasieff catalog include: “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “Hero,” “License to Kill,” “Love Will Survive,” “One Sweet Day”

Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan

Key songs in the Barri/Sloan catalog include: “Secret Agent Man,” “Eve Of Destruction,” “Where Were You When I Needed You,” “You Baby,” “Can I Get to Know You”

Mike Chapman

Key songs in the Chapman catalog include: “The Best,” “Love Is a Battlefield,” “Ballroom Blitz,...

Janet Jackson, Eminem, N.W.A, George Clinton, Boy George, Sheryl Crow and Sonny Curtis — an original member of Buddy Holly’s Crickets who went on to compose the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show (“Love Is All Around”) — are among the 2025 nominees announced Tuesday for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. See the full list below.

Eligible Hall of Fame voting members will have until midnight Et on December 22 to turn in ballots, with their choices of up to three nominees in each of the songwriter and performing songwriter categories. The winning nominees will be inducted at the 2025 Induction & Awards Gala in New York City.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating “the exceptional work and lives of composers and lyricists who make an indelible impact creating music around the world.” A songwriter with a catalog of notable songs qualifies for induction...

Eminem, N.W.A, Janet Jackson, and Alanis Morissette are among the finalists for the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s class of 2025.

Other nominees include Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Sheryl Crow, George Clinton, Boy George, The Doobie Brothers, Steve Winwood, Bryan Adams, Tommy James, and Walter Afanasieff. The full list of nominees can be found below.

A total of six inductees will be chosen: three from the songwriters category, and three from the performing songwriters category. They’ll be honored during a ceremony held in New York City in June 2025.

Artists become eligible for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame 20 years after their first significant commercial release of a song.

Last year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees included R.E.M., Steely Dan, Timbaland, and Dean Pitchford. During the induction ceremony, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and Bill Berry reunited for their first performance together in 15 years.

R.E.M., Steely Dan, Timbaland, and songwriters Dean Pitchford (“Footloose”) and Hillary Lindsey (“Jesus Take the Wheel”) are this year’s inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the organization announced today.

The 2024 induction ceremony and Awards Gala is set for Thursday, June 13, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Additional special award honorees will be announced soon.

“I’ve said it before, but the music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first,” Shof Chairman Nile Rodgers said in a statement that this year’s inductees represent “not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender.” He added that this year’s songwriters “have enriched our lives and literally enriched music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”

In today’s announcement, the Hall of Fame listed key songs in the inductees’ catalogs:

Hillary Lindsey:

Jesus Take...

Steely Dan, Blondie, Public Enemy, R.E.M, Timbaland and the man who wrote bubblegum classics “Build Me Up Buttercup” and “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” are among the nominees for the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Also included on the roster of nominees are, among others, Bread frontman David Gates, Tracy Chapman, the Guess Who’s Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings, Kenny Loggins, Heart and Roger Nichols, who composed the music for such Carpenters hits as “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.”

See the complete list of nominees below.

According to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first significant commercial release of a song. Eligible voting members will have until midnight Et on December 27, 2023 to turn in ballots, with their choices of three nominees from a songwriter and three from performing songwriter categories.

The Doobie Brothers have extended their long-running 50th anniversary tour into 2023 with the addition of 45 new shows taking place between June and October (get tickets here).

The new run of US and Canadian dates will see Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, John McFee, and Michael McDonald visit markets they’ve yet to plan on this current tour. The reunited lineup is playing together for the first time in nearly 25 years.

Tickets for The Doobie Brothers’ newly announced run of Canadian shows go on sale Friday, March 17th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.

Tickets for all other Doobie Brothers’ North American tour dates are currently on sale and available via Stubhub — where orders are 100% guaranteed through Stubhub’s FanProtect program.

In the coming months, The Doobie Brothers are also set to play shows in Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Hawaii. Check out the band’s updated tour schedule below, and...

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The Doobie Brothers paid tribute to their co-founder and “wild spirit” drummer John Hartman on Thursday (Sept. 22) in a post announcing the 72-year-old rock veteran’s death. “Today we are thinking of John Hartman, or Little John to us,” read a social statement from the group. “John was a wild spirit, great drummer, and showman during his time in the Doobies.”

At press time no additional information was available on when Hartman passed or his cause of death.

“He was also a close friend for many years and an intricate part of the band personality! We send our condolences to all his loved ones at this difficult time,” read the statement. Hartman moved to Northern California to join what was planned as a Moby Grape reunion with that band’s leader, Skip Spence, in 1969 that never materialized, according to a band bio.

But...

John Hartman, drummer for the Doobie Brothers during the band’s hit-making 1970s heyday, has died, the band announced. He was 72.

No cause of death was given.

“Today we are thinking of John Hartman, or Little John to us,” the band wrote on Instagram and Twitter. “John was a wild spirit, great drummer, and showman during his time in the Doobies. He was also a close friend for many years and an intricate part of the band personality! We send our condolences to all his loved ones at this difficult time. Rest In Peace John.”

Formed in San Jose, California, in 1970, the Doobie Brothers began with the meeting of Hartman and singer-guitarist-songwriter Tom Johnston. Soon joined by singer-guitarist-songwriter Patrick Simmons and bassist Dave Shogren. The group would welcome an ever-shifting aggregation of members over the decades – the Doobies still tour today – most notably singer-keyboardist Michael McDonald in 1975.

In 1971, the group...

In a spacious suite high above the Las Vegas Strip, Michael McDonald extends his left arm, wiggles his fingers, and glides his arm to his right side. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was getting ready for some air piano. But no — he’s actually recalling the day of the floating vomit.

The Seventies were winding down, but no one had told the Doobie Brothers. By 1978, they’d had enough big songs to fill one greatest-hits album already, from choogling rockers like “Long Train Runnin’” and “China Grove” to soul-rooted,...

Back in the Doobie Brothers‘ Seventies heyday, singer Michael McDonald most likely viewed genre boundaries the same way he does today: as “absolute bullshit.” The legendary group was, for the most part, considered a rock band, but would fit right in on country radio with its chugging rhythms, infectious melodies and down-home lyrics. On Southbound, out today, they’re hoping for that long-awaited crossover — with the help of some country music heavyweights. Joining the Doobies on the collaboration album are Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Zac Brown Band and...