I’ve run down all but three of the artists named on The New York Times‘ list of the ’30 Greatest Living American Songwriters,’ so I’ll cover the rest today.

Nile Rodgers is another songwriter who worked with a now-deceased partner (Bernard Edwards). Together they founded the funk/disco band Chic, which had #1 hits with ‘Le Freak’ and ‘Good Times.’

They carried that unmistakable sound over to songs written for other artists, including ‘We Are Family’ for Sister Sledge and ‘I’m Coming Out’ for Diana Ross, not to mention the countless hip-hop songs that have sampled their music over the decades.

Though she might be known more as a singer than a songwriter, Mariah Carey has written or co-written just about every song she’s ever recorded. I’m not a big fan of her catalog, but I have absolutely no problem with The Times including her on this list.

Carey is second only to The Beatles for number of #1 hits released (she has 19) and she holds a plethora of other records. She also penned a perennial Christmas classic in ‘All I Want For Christmas is You,’ which should count for something.

The final name on the NYT list is a new one to me: Stephin Merritt. As leader of the Magnetic Fields and other indie pop bands, Merritt is a prolific songwriter who is partial to giving himself writing challenges (one involved a collection of songs clocking in under 35 seconds, another was an epic album consisting of 69 Love Songs).

I’ve been intrigued by what I’ve read and the few songs I’ve listened to, and I’d like to dive a little deeper into Merritt’s catalog. Who knows… he might end up making a revised edition of my own list someday.