The Doobie Brothers perform classics, are feted by Garth Brooks, at Songwriters Hall of Fame induction

The Doobie Brothers' Michael McDonald, Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Thursday night at a gala in New York, where they treated the audience to several of their hits.

The trio performed Doobie Brothers classics "Black Water," "Taking' It to the Streets" and "Listen to the Music." They were also feted by surprise guest Garth Brooks, who performed two songs: "Long Train Runnin'" and "China Grove."

"Songwriting to me is a way to express what’s going on inside you and tell other people about it, but at the same time, if people like what you write, which is f-ing amazing, than you can bring ‘em up," Johnston said in his speech. "Basically we all feel, I guess, a responsibility of lifting people up. I think that’s really important, especially right now."

On the red carpet, Johnston told ABC Audio they weren’t expecting such an honor, noting, "It just showed up."

“We're really excited because we've been writing songs for a really long time," he added. "A lot of these people that are being inducted tonight, as well as the people that came before them, and us, we listened to. We were influenced by coming up."