Veteran songwriter Gordon Lightfoot promised to return to the stage soon, as he accepted his induction to the inaugural Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Wednesday night.

Lightfoot told the crowd gathered for the gala in Toronto that songwriting has been embedded in his psyche since he was young. And it's not going away anytime soon.

One of Lightfoot's signature tunes, "If You Could Read My Mind" was also honoured as one of the 12 most influential Canadian songs of all time.

Blue Rodeo was at the gala to serenade Lightfoot with their rendition of his classic ballad.

For his part, Lightfoot was clearly proud to receive the award.

"I'm very happy to receive this award and I'm happy to be a part of this very first one," he told the appreciative crowd, adding that he's contributed a model work ethic as his legacy to Canadian music.

He has a new album, Harmony, due out early next year.

But health problems -- he's already had two surgeries for a rare abdominal condition, with a third scheduled for the spring -- will keep the 64-year-old composer from touring until at least 2005.

The brainchild of veteran Canadian music publisher Frank Davies, the non-profit, bilingual Hall of Fame's first event was this week's hot entertainment ticket, attended by a virtual Who's Who of the Canadian music industry.

The original Toronto cast members of the musical "Hair" were also on hand to perform their version of the Canadian song "Age of Aquarius".

And singer Tom Cochrane paid tribute to country music legend Hank Snow's songs. Snow, along with Alfred Bryan, Flix Leclerc and Madame Bolduc, were posthumously awarded four of the first twelve spots in the hall.