Songwriter and producer Bert Berns died in 1967 at the age of 38 as the result of a heart attack. Upon his death, he not only left a wife and three children; he also left an impressive list of hit songs including cowriting “Twist and Shout”, “Piece of My Heart”, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”, “Cry to Me”, and “Hang on Sloopy”.
Nearly 60 years after his death, Berns has finally been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
At a ceremony in his home town of New York City at 54 Below, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Van Morrison, Steve Miller, and Steven Van Zandt were among the stars who paid tributes to Berns via video.
Paul Shaffer was joined by Berns’ children Brett and Cassandra to host the gala event.
Berns was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
Not just a hit making songwriter, he was also a record producer who sign a young Van Morrison and went to to produce the hit “Brown Eyed Girl”. Berns also produced “Under the Boardwalk” for The Drifters.
Berns founded Bang Records in 1965 with Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun and Gerald Wexle and later founded Shout Records.
The Strangeloves had a hit with “I Want Candy” and Neil Diamond scored hits with “Solitary Man” and “Kentucky Woman” while at Bang Records.
The Off Broadway musical “Piece of My Heart” was about Bert Berns.
It was Bert Berns who introduced a young guitar player named Jimmy Page to Atlantic Records; who went on to sign Page’s band Led Zeppelin a few months after Berns’ death.
In his book “Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm & Blues”, Joel Selvin said that Bert Berns was “one of the great originals of the golden age of rhythm and blues.”
He was born Bertrand Russell Berns on November 8, 1929 in New York City and lived his entire life in the city, dying on New Year’s Eve in 1967.