Musical Excellence Award: Rock Hall honors Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, MC5 and Norman Whitfield

Jimmy Buffett: From “Margaritaville” to the Hall of Fame

Jimmy Buffett, whose “Gulf & Western” musical style combined Caribbean rhythms and instrumentation with the influence of Texas troubadour songwriting, embodied by his friend Jerry Jeff Walker, was not just a musician – he was a culture creator, entrepreneur, and author, among other things.

Since 1973, his songs reflected his joys as a world traveler, pilot and sailor and were often based on true events: “Jamaica Mistaica”, “Buffet Hotel”, “A Pirate Looks at 40”. But his biggest hits have resonated and gained new fans with each release: “Why Don't We Get Drunk,” “Come Monday,” “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” may not have been deep, but they were definitely fun.

And his fans, known as Parrotheads — a term coined by former Coral Reefer Band member Timothy B. Schmidt — flocked to see him when he toured the amphitheaters over the summer. In 1985, Buffett began building his Parrothead lifestyle empire, which eventually included restaurant chains, bars, hotels, casinos, retirement homes, beverages, home goods, clothing, accessories, books and even a musical.

The 2000s brought Buffett a lot of recognition. “Margaritaville” was included in the “Songs of the Century,” a list of 365 songs of historical significance selected by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. He won Vocal Event of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards for his 2003 duet with Alan Jackson, “It's Five O'Clock Somewhere,” and in 2010 he was named the tenth-biggest touring artist of the decade with 4.5 million tickets sold Sales in the last 10 years.

Buffett's influence can be heard in the mischievous humor and tropical vibes of the hits of some of today's country greats, including Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Zac Brown, Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley.

Dionne Warwick: Cancel Pop Music and Save the World

Dionne Warwick has been one of pop music's greatest singers since her solo debut in 1962. But her first and possibly greatest love is gospel.

“Gospel music has always been my favorite music and the first thing I learned from my aunts and uncles, my mother and the Drinkard Singers, who were and are the first singing group,” says Warwick.

This early training paved the way for Warwick's massive pop success as a great interpreter of songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, with whom she had a long string of hits in the 1960s. Songs like “Walk On By,” “I Say a Little Prayer for You” and “Don’t Make Me Over” are standards in the pop canon.

But she didn't stop there. In the 1970s, Warwick teamed up with the Spinners for the No. 1 hit “Then Came You,” followed in 1979 by the Barry Manilow-produced “I'll Never Love This Way Again,” which gave Warwick her third Best Female Pop Performance earned a Grammy. In the 1980s and 1990s she sang duets with Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross and Johnny Mathis, among others.

In 1985 she contributed vocals to “We Are The World”, written and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson as a benefit single for USA For Africa, which was followed by another benefit single – “That's What Friends Are For” alongside Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder in 1985. The single was credited to “Dionne and Friends” and raised more than $3 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).

But for Warwick, it's all about the gospel. In a recent interview with the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, she says, “In gospel music, I learned the presence and tremendous impact that words have on people. Here I learned to give words a positive and reflective meaning. It’s about love, joy, happiness and inspiration.”

MC5: Knocking out the punk rock jams in Detroit

The Motor City Five—better known as the MC5—emerged from Detroit with an explosive brand of garage rock that not only upended late 1960s pop culture and music, but also spawned a punk rock phenomenon that endures to this day has.

No, Virginia: Punk rock didn't originate in the dirty storefront nightclubs of New York, no matter how famous CBGB, Max's Kansas City, or Mercer's Art Center might be. It was born with MC5's first known concert at the Grand Ballroom in Detroit, although more accurately it may have originated in the basement of guitarist Wayne Kramer's mother's home.

Unapologetically political, loud and rocking, MC5 was invited by Abbie Hoffman to perform at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, marking a cultural turning point for what protest music could be. Guitarists Kramer, Fred “Sonic” Smith, bassist Michael Davis, drummer Dennis Thompson and stunning lead singer Rob Tyner influenced rockers from Detroit to NYC and far beyond.

The MC5 prefigured much of American punk rock and even influenced heavy metal. After the release of Kick Out the Jams, the band broke new ground with their second album, Back in the USA, produced by then-rock critic Jon Landau. The record combined Chuck Berry riffs with lyrics that still seem prophetic today. The Motor City 5 eliminated traffic jams and politicized every spectator in sight. They were an uncompromising garage band that influenced countless punk and heavy metal artists, including Smith's wife Patti Smith, Sonic Youth and Metallica.

Norman Whitfield: Motown producer shaped the sound of young America

Norman Whitfield got his first big break at Motown in 1963 as a songwriter
Marvin Gaye's Top 5 hit “Pride & Jay” in 1963, after he began his career in the fledgling label's quality control department.

He wrote other hits for the Marvelettes (“Too Many Fish in the Sea”) and the Velvelettes (“Needle in a Haystack”), but his biggest breakthrough came when he became lead producer for The Temptations in 1966.

From then on, his collaborations with The Temps produced some of the vocal group's biggest hits, including “Ain't Too Proud to Beg,” “(I Know) I'm Losing You” and “Just My Imagination.” He expanded their sound and Motown's image with a foray into social justice issues and what became known as “psychedelic soul,” with songs like “Ball of Confusion,” “Cloud Nine,” “Psychedelic Shack” and Edwin Starrs “Was” simultaneously reflecting and influencing the rampant social change in a turbulent time.

Whitfield's use of innovative, extended instrumental arrangements – heard most notably in the Temptations' “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone” and Gladys Knight & the Pips' “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – defied expectations of what pop music could be and sound like.

Whitfield single-handedly expanded the Motown sound and inspired countless future generations of musicians and producers. He died in 2008 but has since been honored by the Grammy Awards and the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his enormous contribution to rock and roll.