They've produced chart-topping hits for Prince, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, and countless others. Grammy Award-winning producers and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were recognized once again, Friday, with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Living Legends Foundation Gala in Atlanta.

Before the ceremony, CBS News Atlanta sat down with the legendary duo to talk about their decades-long partnership and the role Atlanta has played in shaping their careers.

"When you say 40 years, it's really 50 years of knowing each other," Jimmy Jam said. "The friendship goes way beyond the accolades of the industry. We met when we were 13 in junior high school. I get to go to work every day with my best friend. That's the most special thing about it."

Their production credits read like a who's who of pop and R&B history, but both men say Atlanta has always held a special place in their story.

"Our first major production, I would say — or our first hit — was done in Atlanta with the S.O.S. Band," Terry Lewis said. "This place holds a near and dear space in our hearts and minds because our career actually started here. We got caught in a snowstorm while working with the band, and while we were on tour with Prince as part of The Time, we got fired, or freed, I guess. That same night, we went to the studio and mixed our first No. 1 hit single, 'Just Be Good to Me,' with the S.O.S. Band. So it happened in Atlanta. It started in Atlanta and finished in Atlanta."

Lewis laughed as he recalled the snowstorm. 

"It snowed in Atlanta, but we're from snow country. We could have swept the runway off with a broom," he said. "But they shut the airport down."

The pair returned to Atlanta to accept the Ray Harris Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor that carries personal significance.

"Ray Harris was one of the people back at Solar Records when we first started," Jam said. "He worked our first record, which was a Klymaxx record. All of those things really connect together in a beautiful way. And I always say the nice thing about being a Living Legend, the best part is the living part. We're still around to enjoy it."

Lewis agreed, adding, "Awards are only as good as the people you share them with. I get to share them with Jimmy Jam and my family. After a while, if you live past the point of being old, you get to be classic. We made it to classic, and now we get to enjoy the spoils of being classic."

Together, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have produced 16 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles and 26 R&B No. 1s, more chart-toppers than any other songwriting and production team in history.