Prolific songwriter Paul Williams was recently inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and none other then Kermit the Frog helped honor the frequent Muppet collaborator.
Kermit, in a pre-taped video homage, said of the famously height-challenged Williams, “He has a very special relationship with Muppets — he understands Muppets, true, because he’s only a little taller than us.”
Kermit's intro was followed by Ingrid Michaelson performing “Rainbow Connection" and a pair of songs sung by Williams collaborator Gustavo Santaolalla.
Video of the event hasn't been posted online, but according to Variety:
More info about about Paul Williams in the Songwriters Hall of Fame can be found here.
Williams delivered a deeply impassioned yet often hilarious acceptance speech, showing his famous sense of humor by saying, “Songwriters can be shy about pitching their songs, but publishers are shameless. I’ve heard my songs pitched during shivas and when brides were walking down the aisle.”
But the climax of this brilliant songwriter’s emotional speech came at the end, when he recalled the time he briefly met the man for whom his award was named, over 50 years ago. Williams had attained some success at the time but was in awe of Mercer and intimated, so the meeting amounted to just a few words and a wave. Williams, a longstanding and active recovery advocate, spoke of how his retelling of the incident became more and more exaggerated and flattering toward himself over the years. But he made amends by saying to Mercer, who died in 1976, “I wanted so much to be loved by you that I lied about it."
More info about about Paul Williams in the Songwriters Hall of Fame can be found here.
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