Davies, one of this year's inductees, had to cancel his appearance at the last minute due to the death of his sister, Joyce. A note posted to his official Facebook page read, "I am profoundly honoured to have been inducted into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame and disappointed not to have been at the event in New York but I felt it necessary to be near my family at this sad time of my sisters funeral. I wish to thank everyone at the Songwriters Hall of Fame who voted for me and give a special thanks to all the loyal Kinks fans who have stood by us all these years. I hope to repay such loyal support by trying my best to continue to write songs in the future that are worthy of such an accolade."

In his place, Bon Jovi performed Kinks classics "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night," according to USA Today. There were a number of other notable performances, including Glover's version of "Midnight Train to Georgia," paying tribute to inductee Jim Weatherly, who wrote the Gladys Knight & the Pips hit.

A Great Big World sang 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" to pay tribute to another inductee, Graham Gouldman (his songwriting credits also include the Yardbirds' "For Your Love" and the Hollies' "Bus Stop").