Bittersweet Hall of Fame ceremony

updated 10:31 a.m. ET June 11, 2004

NEW YORK - It was only last year that Ray Charles performed at the Songwriters Hall of Fame awards show. This year, he was there in spirit.

Artists attending the annual induction ceremony Thursday night remembered Charles, who died just hours earlier of acute liver disease, for his musicianship, his creativity, and his personality.

An emotional Stevie Wonder called Charles a “blessing.”

“It is a bittersweet night,” said Wonder, who accepted the Johnny Mercer Award, given to an inductee who has a vast catalog of songs. “The cure for hate is love. And Ray Charles bought us a lot of love.”

Later, before performing, Wonder told a crowded Manhattan ballroom that Charles “changed the world” with his hit songs “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “Georgia on my Mind.”

Charles, who was 73, received the group’s Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.

At Thursday’s ceremony, composers and songwriters from a range of musical genres said Charles’ mixture of blues, folk and country had been deeply inspirational.

Free video Legendary singer dies June 10: NBC's Bob Faw reports on the life, music and legacy of legendary singer Ray Charles. Nightly News

“Another great singer, another great soul person has gone away,” said Daryl Hall, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with partner John Oates. “He was one of the great 20th century songwriters. What he did changed music.”

Composer Neil Sedaka, who received this year’s Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, called Charles “an inspiration to the black world, the white world, the entire world.”

Inductees Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, who wrote several Motown hits for artists including Marvin Gaye and Edwin Starr, said Charles’ music had heavily influenced them.

“Ray Charles has always been a part of our lives,” Strong said. “Hearing about his passing saddens the moment.”

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