Columbia recording artist Leon Bridges inducted Kool & The Gang into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, in a ceremony that was held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Bridges also performed an upbeat version of “Get Down On It” in their honor, and noted that their prolific music career has lasted over five decades.
Kool & The Gang made the audience proud by performing a live rendition of their signature party anthem, “Celebration,” which got the entire venue on their feet, dancing along with them, thus “celebrating” good times indeed: their well-deserved Songwriters Hall of Fame induction.
Chatting with Robert “Kool” Bell from Kool & The Gang
On being inducted into the coveted Songwriters Hall of Fame, Robert “Kool” Bell said, “It feels wonderful, because this is all about the peers, and the people that we are writing with. To be inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame feels very good since there are a lot of writers and a lot of songs, and a certain few get inducted. We feel really good about that.”
Regarding the key to longevity in the music industry, Robert “Kool” Bell said, “I think people like our music. Our longevity is that we are trying to reinvent ourselves and what we do from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and the ’90s. Then, people sample your music, and people figure out who really wrote the song. That’s the way it is.”
Robert “Kool” Bell defined the word success as “Finally making it after hard work, trials and tribulations.” “Only the strong survive. We have been able to do that over 50 years. I can’t believe it myself that it has been that long. I have grandchildren now. That’s what success means,” he said.
To learn more about Kool & The Gang, check out their official website.
