LADY GAGA turned up in a black bra and dark panties before switching to a zebra-striped suit. Tony Bennett stuck to old-fashioned blue, while Stephen Colbert looked at home in denim and a cowboy hat.

    Bennett, Colbert, Lady Gaga and Van Morrison were among the featured singers and speakers Thursday night at the 46th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, a three-hour journey through the vast and unpredictable range of American music. New inductees included country stars Toby Keith and Bobby Braddock, the late Chicago bluesman Willie Dixon, the Grateful Dead songwriting team of Robert Hunter and the late Jerry Garcia, pop and stage star Cyndi Lauper and rock composer and performer Linda Perry.

    Morrison and Lady Gaga picked up honorary prizes, while awards also were presented to Nate Ruess and the former CEO of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), John LoFrumento.

    At the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, admirers from across genres and generations exchanged tributes. The 88-year-old Bennett presented Lady Gaga, his duet partner, with a “Contemporary Icon Award” after Lady Gaga and Perry honored each other. Lady Gaga stormed through Perry’s “What’s Up?” and Perry said it was “crazy” that a song she dashed off in her bedroom, fighting off fleas from her dog, would be embraced by a world-famous performer.

    Carly Rae Jepsen faithfully sang Lauper’s moody ballad “Time After Time” and Michael Buble crooned a finger-snapping version of Morrison’s “Moondance.”

    A segment on Dixon featured a speech by Elton John’s songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, who called him the Shakespeare of the blues and noted that many bands in England in the

    ’60 sstarted out by playing “Little Red Rooster,” “Back Door Man” and other Dixon standards. Taupin credited Dixon with loading up British artists such as the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton with great material and giving them “the wings to fly.”

    Colbert seemed an unexpected choice to introduce Keith, but the future “Late Night” host kicked right into “As Good As I Once Was,” the stage musicians laughing and grinning behind him.

    (SD-Agencies)