Garth Brooks, Leon Russell and Allen Toussaint among 2011 Songwriters Hall inductees

Amid the famous faces, some of Thursday night’s inductees weren’t so familiar — that is, until you heard the songs they penned.

Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly might be able to walk the streets in anonymity, but they’ve written some famously catchy hits, including Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional,” and The Pretenders “I’ll Stand By You.”

“It was pretty risque at the time,” Kelly said of the Madonna song. “It took us about a month to finally, accidentally fall into what it ended up.”

John Bettis, who wrote Madonna’s hit, “Crazy For You,” along with hit songs for the Carpenters, Diana Ross, and The Pointer Sisters, was another inductee. He wrote “Human Nature” for Michael Jackson, which Skylar Grey performed at the event.

Bill Medley, of The Righteous Brothers fame, was there to present Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil with the Johnny Mercer Award. The married duo wrote the mega-hit, “You Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”

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