Country Music hall of fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame is opening its doors to several performers for its two-day All For the Hall music event in Dallas. The event will launch Sept. 9 with Grammy-nominated trio Midland performing at a Patron Party at the home of event honorary co-chairs Anne and Steve Stodghill (previously announced performer Vince Gill […]
On Monday (March 18), three members of the country music community were announced as the next inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, making up its Class of 2024.
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The late Toby Keith was named as the modern era artist category inductee. John Anderson will be inducted in the veterans era artist category, and guitarist James Burton will be inducted in the recording and/or touring musician category. They join 152 others who are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and will be formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during the annual medallion ceremony, set for this October. The CMA created the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 to recognize artists and industry professionals with country music’s highest honor.
“Each of these inductees have made an indelible impact on country music,” Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern told the audience that gathered at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s rotunda that morning.
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Louisiana native and guitarist Burton, who in the 1950s developed the “chicken pickin’” style of guitar playing, was announced as an inductee by hall members Brooks & Dunn. Fellow Louisiana native Brooks called Burton “a hometown hero.”
“I’m honored. It’s just amazing. Actually, I’m really surprised. I want to thank all of you guys for your love and support. It’s truly an honor,” Burton told the crowd.
Burton began playing guitar at 13 years old, inspired by a white 1953 Telecaster electric guitar and the work of his musical heroes including Chet Atkins and Les Paul. Burton developed a hybrid picking style that used a flat pick between his thumb and index finger, as well as a fingerpick on his middle finger. He would mimic the slide of a pedal steel, but also blend in staccato notes — the style became known as chicken pickin’. Burton quickly became the youngest staff musician on the country music show Louisiana Hayride. A few years later, Dale Hawkins set lyrics to guitar instrumental Burton had written, resulting in the Billboard top 30 hit “Susie-Q” in 1957. Burton soon joined Ricky Nelson’s backing band and went on to play on records by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Glen Campbell, the Everly Brothers, the Monkees and more. His work is heard on soundtracks for movies including Rio Bravo and Viva Las Vegas. When Elvis Presley debuted at Las Vegas’ International Hotel in 1969, Presley called Burton and asked him to put a band together; the result was Burton becoming band leader and lead guitarist for Presley’s “Takin’ Care of Business” band. Burton played with Presley for the remainder of Presley’s life. He played on Gram Parson’s GB and Grievous Angels albums and was in the first version of Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band. After Presley’s death in 1977, Burton played in John Denver’s band for two decades. Burton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007. Burton was so associated with the Fender Telecaster that when Fender launched its first “signature” Telecaster in 1990, it bore Burton’s name.
Last month, on Feb. 6, it was announced that Keith had died after a battle with stomach cancer. On Monday morning, CMA CEO Sarah Trahern told the audience gathered in the Hall of Fame’s rotunda that she learned that Keith would become one of the newest inductees just a few hours after Keith’s passing.
Trahern noted that while election rules do not allow someone to be elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the year in which they pass away, that doesn’t apply, as Keith was elected prior to his passing.
“Nominations were made in the fall of 2023 with the first ballot sent to voters before the holidays, with the final ballot closing on Friday, Feb. 2,” Trahern said. “Our professional services partners at Deloitte released the results to us just a few days later. This year, we anticipated receiving the names of our final inductees on Tuesday, Feb. 6. As we know now, we woke up that morning to the heartbreaking news that our friend Toby Keith had lost his long battle with stomach cancer. What’s bittersweet is that just a few hours later, our team received word from Deloitte that he’d been elected in the modern-era category. Truly one of the greatest honors of my job is getting to inform these inductees that they are the newest members of the hallowed class. My heart sank that Tuesday afternoon, knowing that we had missed the chance to inform Toby while he was still with us, but I have no doubt that he is smiling down on us, knowing that he will always be ‘as good as he once was.’”
Oklahoma native Keith began playing guitar on an instrument his grandmother bought him. He later began touring regionally with his band Easy Money. Keith admired artists such as Merle Haggard and Bob Seger, who also wrote their own songs. When Keith made his way to Nashville, he had a cassette tape of some of what he considered his best songs. One label head noted the songs weren’t good enough, so Keith returned to Oklahoma. However, Harold Shedd (Mercury Records Nashville head at the time) heard about Keith’s music and traveled to Oklahoma City to meet him. The songs on that cassette included three of the songs that would become Keith’s first four singles, including “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” and “He Ain’t Worth Missing.” The fourth song was “Does that Blue Moon Ever Shine on You,’ which became a No. 1 hit from Keith’s 1996 album Blue Moon. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” was an immediate hit for Keith. During his career, Keith earned 20 Billboard Country Airplay hits, and was a writer or co-writer on many of those. Keith’s label at the time, Mercury, shuffled him from imprint to imprint including Polydor, A&M and back to Mercury. When Mercury turned down his fifth album, Keith asked the label to release him from his contract. Keith paid Mercury for the album, then took it to DreamWorks Nashville, which was being run by his producer James Stroud. The album’s first single, “How Do You Like Me Now?!”, spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart. His five DreamWorks albums all went multi-Platinum, with 2002’s Unleashed and 2003’s Shock’n Y’all reaching 5x Platinum. His songs including “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This,” “I Love This Bar,” and “American Soldier” spent multiple weeks atop the Country Airplay chart, while “As Good As I Once Was” and a duet with Willie Nelson called “Beer for My Horses” each spent six weeks at No. 1.
Keith wrote “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and following his father’s passing in March of that same year. The song became a lightning rod of controversy. Always an ardent supporter of the U.S. military, Keith performed on 11 U.S.O. tours, playing more than 200 shows for members of the U.S. Armed Forces. He also earned the hit “American Soldier,” which details the daily sacrifices and struggles of those in the U.S. armed forces. In 2005, Keith launched his own label, Show Dog Records, releasing songs including “Get Drunk and Be Somebody,” “American Ride,” “Red Solo Cup,” “Hope on the Rocks,” “Made In America,” “God Love Her” and “Don’t Let the Old Man In,” which he wrote after being inspired by Clint Eastwood, who later featured it in his 2018 film The Mule. Keith was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2007, the all-genre Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021. Keith was honored with the National Medal of the Arts in 2020 and the BMI Icon Award in 2022.
Florida native Anderson was named to the veterans era artist category.
“This is probably the greatest honor I could ever receive, standing on this stage today…still trying to get a grasp on the reality of this happening to me. I’m so very proud and so honored,” Anderson told the crowd in accepting the honor, thanking fans and people at the CMA and Hall of Fame. “Many, many people to thank along the way. This is an institution that preserves greatness and I know it is, because I have many dear friends who are in the Hall of Fame…. The fact that I get a chance to be amongst this kind of greatness, words can’t really explain for me how important it is. Music has been what keeps me driven since I was just a child and I have so much to be thankful for.”
Anderson released several singles in the 1970s, including 1979’s “Your Lying Blue Eyes” and “She Just Started Liking Cheatin’ Songs” before issuing his debut album in 1980. Anderson’s penchant for shuffles, waltzes and ballads brought him his first top 5 Hot Country Songs hit with a cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “I’m Just An Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday).” In September 1982, the title track for his album Wild and Blue was on point to become his first Hot Country Songs No. 1 (staying there for two weeks), when radio stations began also playing another song from the album. Three weeks after “Wild and Blue” hit No. 1, Anderson’s “Swingin’” hit the Hot Country Songs chart and 10 weeks later, became Anderson’s second No. 1 hit. “Swingin’” was honored as the single of the year at the 1983 CMA Awards, the same evening that Anderson took home the horizon award win. Between 1981 and 1983, Anderson earned six top 10 Hot Country Songs hits and three No. 1s on that chart. His singles began peaking lower on the chart in subsequent years, until his career came roaring back in the 1990s with songs including the Hot Country Songs No. 1 hits “Straight Tequila Night” and “Money in the Bank,” as well as the top 5 Hot Country Songs hit “I Wish I Could Have Been There.” Another of those ’90s hits, the No. 2 Hot Country Songs hit “Seminole Wind,” had an environmentally conscious bent. While Anderson wasn’t a writer on the song, he recognized its potential. “Seminole Wind” sold three million copies, becoming a career-defining song for Anderson. In addition to Anderson’s two 1980s CMA Awards, he participated in the 1994 album of the year win for Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, on which he covered “Heartache Tonight.” That same year, the Academy of Country Music honored him with its career achievement award.
In a city filled with frequent celebrity-studded events, it marks an even more momentous occasion to bring together more than a dozen members of the Country Music Hall of Fame — including Bill Anderson, Kix Brooks, the Oak Ridge Boys, Connie Smith, Brenda Lee, Vince Gill, Dean Dillon and Randy Travis.
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But the Sunday (Oct. 22) celebration held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater was just such a worthy occasion, as these titans of country music gathered to help welcome three more artists into the fold — artists Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker as well as songwriter Bob McDill — bringing the number of Country Music Hall of Fame members to 152 esteemed artists who are now part of the coveted club.
Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young launched the evening, detailing the multitude of accomplishments from Loveless, Tucker and McDill. Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern noted that the evening acknowledged “those that make country music exceptional.” Trahern called Loveless and Tucker “strong, distinctive voices in our format,” and McDill “a songwriter’s songwriter.”
Mary Ann McCready recognized the members of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Circle Guard, while the Medallion All-Star Band backed each of the performers during the evening. The collection of top-shelf musicians consisted of steel guitarist Paul Franklin, keyboardist Jen Gunderman, bassist Rachel Loy, guitarist Brent Mason, drummer Jerry Pentecost, vocalist Carmella Ramsey, fiddle/mandolin player Deanie Richardson, bandleader/acoustic guitarist Biff Watson and acoustic guitarist/vocalist Jeff White.
Bob McDill
Since arriving in Nashville by way of Memphis in 1970, McDill proved himself one of the most skilled songcrafters in the genre’s history, contributing numerous hit songs to country music’s canon. Don Williams recorded over 30 of McDill’s songs (“Amanda,” “It Must Be Love,” “Good Ole Boys Like Me”), while McDill also wrote Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” Alabama’s “Song of the South,” Dan Seals’s “Everything That Glitters (Is not Gold),” Mel McDaniel’s “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On,” Sammy Kershaw’s “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” and Alan Jackson’s “Gone Country.” Bobby Bare recorded an entire album’s worth of McDill’s compositions on 1977’s Me & McDill. In 2017, McDill donated 217 legal pads of notes and lyrics to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
On Sunday evening, McDill was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the songwriter category by fellow Country Music Hall of Famer and “The Gambler” writer Don Schlitz, who recalled the numerous times McDill took the time to mentor him as a budding songwriter, noting that among the lessons he learned from McDill was a sense of respect for the music, the process of songwriting and the songwriter.
“You cannot write country music [by] looking down your nose at it,” Schlitz quoted another key lesson.
Performers honoring McDill were Charley Crockett (with “Louisiana Saturday Night”), Dean Dillon (who offered up “All The Good Ones Are Gone,” a song he co-wrote with McDill, which Pam Tillis turned into a Grammy-nominated hit) and Jamey Johnson (who turned in a thundering rendition of “Good Ole Boys Like Me”).
“To say you are one of my heroes is a gross understatement,” Johnson told McDill, seated in the front row.
In accepting his honor, McDill noted that there were eight non-performing songwriters who had been previously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame: Dean Dillon, Fred Rose, Bobby Braddock, Schlitz, Cindy Walker, Harlan Howard, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. “I knew all these people except Cindy Walker — all brilliant,” he said. “Everyone knows their songs, a few people know their names … It speaks well of the Hall of Fame to include them.”
Patty Loveless
Golden-voiced Kentucky native Patty Loveless was inducted in the modern era artist category. Loveless started out singing as a family duo with her brother Roger, and while still in her teens, had earned the encouragement of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton and had earned a slot touring with The Wilburn Brothers. After a brief detour into front local rock bands in North Carolina, Loveless returned to her first love, country music — and the blend of her high lonesome voice with country-rock fare would become her calling card. After earning her first Billboard Hot Country Songs top 10 hit in 1988 with a cover of George Jones’ “If My Heart Had Windows,” Loveless went on to earn more than 30 top 20 Country Songs hits, including five chart-toppers, “Timber, I’m Falling in Love,” “Chains,” “Blame It On Your Heart,” “You Can Feel Bad” and “Lonely Too Long.” In the 2000s, she delved into her Kentucky bluegrass roots, crafting the Grammy-nominated Mountain Soul, and its Grammy-winning successor Mountain Soul II.
Bluegrass group Sister Sadie (which includes Loveless’ longtime fiddle player Deanie Richardson) performed Loveless’ “The Sounds of Loneliness,” while Vince Gill pulled double-duty, performing Loveless’ 1996 hit “Lonely Too Long” and also inducting his longtime friend as a Country Music Hall of Fame member. Rocker Bob Seger surprised the crowd by performing “She Drew a Broken Heart” — the pair previously recorded the song “The Answer’s in the Question,” included on Seger’s 2006 album Face the Promise.
Gill said of Loveless, “It feels like this is the little sister I’ve always wanted to sing with. I hear in her voice that blood harmony I’ve yearned for my whole life.” He recalled first meeting her when she stood in line at his CMA Fest (then-called Fan Fair) booth and said that she loved his music and predicted they would sing together one day. “And boy, did we,” he said. Loveless sang on Gill’s debut solo country song “When I Call Your Name,” and other songs including “Pocket Full of Gold,” while they also had a hit duet with “My Kind of Woman/My Kind of Man.” It was Loveless and Ricky Skaggs who provided distinct harmonies on what would become one of Gill’s signature songs, “Go Rest High on That Mountain.”
In accepting the honor, a visibly emotional Loveless honored her late brother Roger, who died last year and who had long been a bandmate and champion for Loveless since the two were kids singing together as the duo the Singing Swinging Rameys.
“This was always a dream of ours as young kids coming to Nashville. When I would walk through the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum when it was over on 16th Avenue, it just felt so comforting to walk among those. To be a part of that now, it is truly an honor and I don’t think I could have done it without the people who supported me,” Loveless said. “It’s amazing to me that I have been allowed to live the life that I have lived and been blessed to know each and every one of you.”
She gave thanks to others who had supported her along the way, including The Wilburn Brothers, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton and Loveless’ husband and longtime producer, Emory Gordy, Jr.
Tanya Tucker
Tucker made her debut in 1972 as a precocious 13-year-old talent with a top 10 Hot Country Songs hit with “Delta Dawn,” and swiftly went on to notch six No. 1 Country Songs hits before she turned 18 –songs with mature themes, such as “What’s Your Mama’s Name,” and “Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone),” that helped redefine the boundaries for women in country music. She also blazed her own trail in terms of image, thanks to her edgy cover artwork of her 1978 album TNT, which featured Tucker in leather, while the music embraced rock and pop.
In the more than five decades since her debut, she’s etched her reputation as a magnetic, rock n’ roll-inspired entertainer and commanding hitmaker. Along the way, her tenacity, determination and acute sense of hustle have brought multiple chapters to her career. After a three-year hiatus from recording, she returned to the country music spotlight, earning 24 top 10 Country Songs hits from 1986 through 1997, including “Love Me Lke You Used To,” “Strong Enough to Bend,” “Down to My Last Teardrop” and “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane.” In 1991, she earned the honor of CMA female vocalist of the year. In 2019, she reached yet another career zenith, earning the first Grammys of her career for the Brandi Carlile- and Shooter Jennings-produced album While I’m Livin’ and the song “Bring My Flowers Now.”
Earlier in the evening, Young had called Tucker “a one of a kind stylist, a maverick,” and in true, unfiltered Tucker fashion, her induction brought some of the evening’s most spontaneous, raw moments.
Wynonna Judd performed a sterling, commanding rendition of Tucker’s 1972 debut single “Delta Dawn,” with harmonica courtesy of Charlie McCoy, who played on Tucker’s original recording of the song. Jessi Colter and Margo Price followed with Tucker’s 1992 top 5 Country Songs hit “It’s a Little Too Late.” Carlile also made a surprise appearance to perform “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane.” A performer through and through, Tucker couldn’t sit idly in the front row, but rather joined Colter and Price during their performance, and later joined Carlile for the conclusion of “Sparrows.”
“Me and Shooter are so proud of you,” Carlile told her. “You have carved out an ass-kicking path for every girl, and for me, and I will forever be trying to make it up to you … tonight, I saw you be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. You did it.”
Smith and Lee officially inducted Tucker into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“She’s so real,” Smith said. “When I grow up I want to sing like Tanya Tucker … she belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Kitty Wells, Jean Shepard, Patsy Montana, and Loretta [Lynn] and Dottie West and Tammy [Wynette] and Dolly [Parton]. She is one of us and I’m so proud.”
“She’s one of the most giving, loving kind-hearted people that I know,” said Lee, who knows better than most the tenacity and sacrifices a music career demands, as a former child star herself. “You are one of the few people in this industry that, doing what we do, has stayed real. You stated your case, you said, ‘Like it or leave it, it don’t matter to me. I’m going to do what I want to do, sing what I want to sing, and if you don’t like it, don’t listen.’ She was one of the first in this town that was brave enough to say that … she is who she is and you have to respect that.”
Accepting her honor, Tucker called her journey to the Hall of Fame “a 52-year experience — and I’ve had a lot of ups and downs.” She thanked her three children, who were in attendance, as well as members of her management and touring teams and paid tribute to her father, champion and early manager, Beau Tucker. She recalled sitting with her father, watching a Grand Ole Opry performance when she was a child and hearing her father say, “Now, don’t you wish you were up there doing it, instead of sittin’ down here watching it?’ I said, ‘Yes sir, I do.’ From that moment on, I’ve never been a good audience member — and I haven’t been a good one today,” she said, referencing her moments joining Colter, Price and Carlile onstage during their performances.
After getting a fist look at the bronze plaque that commemorates her induction into the Hall of Fame, and the plaque that will hang in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s rotunda, Tucker again thanked the audience. Tossing her Elvis-esque white, bejeweled jacket over her shoulder, Tucker sashayed off the stage, with Wynonna soon returning center stage to lead the audience in what has become the customary closure for the evening, a singalong of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” From there, the gathered music industry denizens walked upstairs in the Country Music Hall of Fame for an after-ceremony party to further celebrate the Hall’s newest members.
On Tuesday (Aug. 29), Eric Church became the 18th artist to perform as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s prestigious artist residency program, as he kicked off the first of two nights of intimate, career-spanning shows at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s 700+ seat CMA Theater. Launched in 2003, a prestigious residency has since celebrated the artistic magnitude of artists including Cowboy Jack Clement, Earl Scruggs, Kenny Rogers, Connie Smith, Tom T. Hall, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson and Miranda Lambert.
For Church, it also marked a full-circle moment, as acclaimed journalist Robert K. Oermann noted that just seventeen years ago, Church had launched his major-label recording career with an album release party for Sinners Like Me in that same building, at the 200+ seat Ford Theater. Back then, Oermann had asked the tiny audience of ardent Church fans if they were ready for “a kick in the pants.” That night at the CMA Theater, he guaranteed the audience of passionate fans — many of them Church Choir members — were sure to get “a kick in the heart.”
He returned to the hallowed Hall as a Country Music Association entertainer of the year winner, a 10-time Grammy nominee, and the subject of his own exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, aptly titled Eric Church: Country Heart, Restless Soul.
Seated front and center on a stool, and backed by his longtime band and backup singers, Church embarked upon a career-cataloging set that chronicled his evolution into one of country music’s biggest artists. The early portion of the evening centered on his fierce determination to rise above an onslaught of negative early career press, as a video screen outfitted to resemble an vintage television rattled off reviews that disparaged his early music and performances.
From the beginning of his career, Church has done things his own way and colored outside of the lines, daring to dig deeper, musically and creatively. He was kicked off an early tour for playing too loud and too long; in 2016, he surprised the industry and his fan club members by releasing his Mr. Misunderstood album directly to members of his Church Choir fanclub first, by mailing out vinyl and CD copies directly to them before anyone in the industry had heard it. He took on ticket scalpers in a bid to keep real fans in the concert seats at reasonable prices.
But early on, he also knew the power of building a devoted fanbase. He launched his CMA Theater set with songs including “How ‘Bout You,” “Sinners Like Me” and “Smoke a Little Smoke” — songs that displayed his dogged determination, but also positioned him as an advocate for those who are downtrodden, left of center or simply determined to leave their own unique legacy.
From there, the career-spanning set touched on his breakthrough projects, and songs that showed him to be a songcraft expert. From his CMA album of the year-winning project Chief, he performed “Springsteen” and “Like Jesus Does.” From The Outsiders, he offered “Give Me Back My Hometown” and “Talladega.” From another CMA album of the year-winning album, Mr. Misunderstood, came the title track and “Record Year,” and from Desperate Man came the wisdom-imbued “Some of It” and the tender-and-tough “Monsters.” Along the way, Church has been rewarded with 10 Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hits. He’s also become one of the chief musical architects infusing a new wave of country music with this soul-fueled, heartland rock sensibilities, layered with keen observations and a knack for a killer hook.
The evening had moments of hand-raising, righteous rock and moments of somber tribute. As the crowd rose to its feet and cheers of “Chief!” swelled throughout the theater at the set’s conclusion, Church said, “I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.” Surveying the past nearly two hours of career-spanning music, he noted, “It was tough at times, but you know what? That’s our life. That’s our career. Everything you saw tonight is who we are and that’s unbelievably how we got in this room. It has been the greatest honor of my life to do this.”
Below, we look at five standout moments from the Chief’s opening night as a Country Music Hall of Fame artist-in-residencce.
Chief Hits
Image Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
A Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit was well-suited for a fashionable country/rock reunion that took place July 20 in Nashville.
A rhinestone suit worn by Flying Burrito Brothers bassist Chris Ethridge on the cover of the band’s 1969 album Gilded Palace of Sin was unveiled in a museum display, placing it alongside the other three band members’ ensembles for the first time since that year. Clothier Manuel Cuevas custom-made the apparel for the group, tailoring it to the individual musicians’ personalities, when he worked at Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors in North Hollywood. Cuevas attended the reunion, held in the midst of the museum’s exhibit, “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock.”
The Burritos also included guitarists Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons, and steel guitarist “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow. Gilded Palace was the only album to feature the original lineup, as members shuffled in and out of groups in the era’s fluid Southern California scene.
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“The Flying Burrito Brothers introduced new generations of fans to the beauty of country music and made the steel guitar rock,” said the exhibit’s co-curator, vp of museum services Michael Gray. “They have influenced everyone from The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty to many of today’s Americana artists. Their cosmic couture perfectly reflected their music, taking the rhinestone-studded suits identified with country music and adding their own psychedelic twist.”
The path that Ethridge’s suit took to a Nashville glass display case was twisted as well. It was stolen in 1969 from a station wagon owned by road manager Phil Kaufman, who also attended the reunion. Unknown to the band, the outfit ended up back on the rack at Nudie’s, where Elton John — who was likewise unaware of its history— purchased it in 1970. John wore it on the British TV show Top of the Pops, on the U.K. sleeve of his single “Rocket Man” and at the 1971 wedding of co-writer Bernie Taupin.
An anonymous buyer purchased it during a 1988 Sotheby’s auction, and the suit was stored for over 30 years until it popped up last year at a British online auction of John’s memorabilia.
An Ethridge family friend, musician Tommy Miles, stumbled across the auction the first — and only — time he used Twitter, and he called Ethridge’s daughter, Necia Ethridge, with the news on Nov. 19. She was able to purchase it privately, sealing the deal on her father’s birthday, Feb. 10, and she flew to London to pick it up on March 15. A documentary of the suit’s journey is in production.
Ethridge’s granddaughter, Emma Atkinson, performed “She,” a song that he co-wrote with Parsons, during the ceremony, along with Wilco’s Patrick Sansone and three members of Brothers Osborne’s band. Sansone covered “Hot Burrito #1.”
The “Western Edge” exhibit — which also includes artifacts related to The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and The Desert Rose Band — will remain open until May 2025.
With Willie Nelson’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, 30 years after he was selected for the Country Music Hall of Fame, 16 artists or executives have been chosen to join both Halls.
Nelson, 90, is one of only three of these double (Rock and Country) inductees who is still living. The others are Brenda Lee, 78, and Dolly Parton, 77. Three double inductees – Johnny Cash, The Everly Brothers and Sam Phillips — lived to see both of their inductions, though they have since died.
Nelson, Parton and the late Jerry Lee Lewis have joined the list of double inductees in the past year.
The roster of double honorees includes 13 male artists or executives (the exec being Sun Records founder Phillips); two female artists (Lee and Parton); and one duo (the Everly Brothers).
Bob Wills was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as a solo artist but was inducted into the Rock Hall as the leader of Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys.
Impressively, singer, songwriter and guitarist Jimmie Rodgers was in the inaugural class in both Halls. He was one of the first three people inaugurated into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 and one of the 16 initial inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Rodgers, nicknamed The Singing Brakeman, was just 35 when he died of a pulmonary hemorrhage brought on by tuberculosis in 1933. (He is unrelated to the recording and TV star also named Jimmie Rodgers who had a string of pop and country hits in the late ’50s.)
Floyd Cramer, a top session musician who recorded such crossover hits of his own as “Last Date” and “San Antonio Rose,” is the only person who was inducted into both the Country and Rock Halls of Fame in the same year (2003). Unfortunately, the pianist didn’t live to see this multi-genre appreciation; he died in 1997.
Like Cramer, Chet Atkins also had some hit recordings, but his main contributions were behind-the-scenes as a studio guitarist, producer and record executive (for RCA).
Here’s a list, in alphabetical order, of everyone who has been inducted into both of these Halls of Fame. We show the year each person was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (CM HOF); the year each was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (R&R HOF); their highest-charting hit on what is now called Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart (which originated as Hot C&W Sides in October 1958); and, finally, the year of death for those who are no longer with us.
Note: Many of these acts had hits that pre-dated the introduction of Hot C&W Sides. The hit tallies shown here and the identification of the artists’ biggest hits are for the period starting in October 1958 only.
Chet Atkins
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/GI
Inducted CM HOF: 1973
Inducted R&R HOF: 2002
Top country hit: the instrumental “Yakety Axe” (No. 4 in 1965)
Died: 2001 (age 77)
Johnny Cash
Inducted CM HOF: 1980
Inducted R&R HOF: 1992
Top country hit: “Ring of Fire” (seven weeks at No. 1 in the summer of 1963). Cash had nine No. 1 hits between “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” in February 1959 and “One Piece at a Time” in May 1976.
Died: 2003 (age 71)
Ray Charles
Inducted CM HOF: 2021
Inducted R&R HOF: 1986 (inaugural class)
Top country hit: “Seven Spanish Angels” (with Willie Nelson) No. 1 for one week in March 1985
Died: 2004 (age 73)
Floyd Cramer
Inducted CM HOF: 2003
Inducted R&R HOF: 2003
Top country hit: the instrumental hit “San Antonio Rose” (No. 8 in 1961)
Died: 1997 (age 64)
The Everly Brothers
Image Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/GI
Inducted CM HOF: 2001
Inducted R&R HOF: 1986 (inaugural class)
Top country hit: “(‘Til I Kissed You)” (No. 8 in 1959)
Died: Phil: 2014 (age 74); Don: 2021 (age 84)
Johnny Gimble
Inducted CM HOF: 2018
Inducted R&R HOF: 1999 (as early influence with Bob Wills & His Texas Cowboys)
Top country hit: “One Fiddle, Two Fiddle”/“San Antonio Rose” (both by Ray Price with Johnny Gimble & The Texas Swing Band, No. 70 in 1983)
Died: 2015 (age 88)
Brenda Lee
Inducted CM HOF: 1997
Inducted R&R HOF: 2002
Top country hit: “Big Four Poster Bed” (No. 4 in 1974)
Jerry Lee Lewis
Inducted CM HOF: 2022
Inducted R&R HOF: 1986 (inaugural class)
Top country hit: “Chantilly Lace” (No. 1 for three weeks in the spring of 1972). Lewis had four No. 1 hits between “To Make Love Sweeter for You” in March 1969 and “Chantilly Lace.”
Died: 2022 (age 87)
Bill Monroe
Inducted CM HOF: 1970
Inducted R&R HOF: 1997
Top country hit: “Gotta Travel On” (credited to Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, No. 15 in 1959).
Died: 1996 (age 84)
Willie Nelson
Inducted CM HOF: 1993
Inducted R&R HOF: 2013
Top country hit: Toby Keith with Willie Nelson’s “Beer for My Horses” (No. 1 for six weeks in the summer of 2003). Nelson had 20 No. 1 hits between “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” in October 1975 and “Beer for My Horses.”
Dolly Parton
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/GI
Inducted CM HOF: 1999
Inducted R&R HOF: 2022
Top country hit: “Here You Come Again” (No. 1 for five weeks in December 1977). Parton has had 25 No. 1 hits, from “Joshua” in February 1971 to “When I Get Where I’m Going” (by Brad Paisley with Dolly Parton) in March 2006.
Sam Phillips
Inducted CM HOF: 2001
Inducted R&R HOF: 1986 (inaugural class)
Top country hit: not a recording artist
Died: 2003 (age 80)
Elvis Presley
Inducted CM HOF: 1998
Inducted R&R HOF: 1986 (inaugural class)
Top country hits: “Moody Blue” and “Way Down” (both in 1977) and the posthumous release “Guitar Man” (1981). All three logged a single week at No. 1.
Died: 1977 (age 42)
Jimmie Rodgers
Inducted CM HOF: 1961 (inaugural class)
Inducted R&R HOF: 1986 (inaugural class)
Top country hit: none since 1958
Died: 1933 (age 35)
Hank Williams
Inducted CM HOF: 1961 (inaugural class)
Inducted R&R HOF: 1987
Top country hit: “There’s a Tear in My Beer” (by Hank Williams, Jr. with Hank Williams, Sr., No. 7 in 1989)
Died: 1953 (age 29)
Bob Wills
Inducted CM HOF: 1968
Inducted R&R HOF: 1999 (with Bob Wills and His Texas Cowboys, which also included Tommy Duncan, Leon McAuliffe, Johnny Gimble, Joe “Jody” Holley, Tiny Moore, Herb Remington, Eldon Shamblin, and Al Stricklin).
Top country hit: “Heart to Heart Talk” (by Bob Wills with Tommy Duncan and the Texas Playboys, No. 5 in 1960)
Died: 1975 (age 70)
Liz Thiels, public Relations professional and former Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum executive, died on Sunday (March 19) following an extended illness. Thiels was 78.
Thiels was born in Alexandria, Louisiana in 1944. She attended the University of Southwest Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where she majored in advertising design. She later worked as a reporter at a daily newspaper in Louisiana, and served as press secretary for U.S. Congressman Speedy O. Long.
Thiels moved to Nashville in the late 1960s and worked as an account executive for Holder, Kennedy & Co. Public Relations. In the 1970s, Thiels became a partner in Nashville’s Exit/In music venue, helping to showcase artists including John Hiatt, Billy Joel, Steve Martin and Linda Ronstadt. In 1974, Thiels was named director of public relations at Sound Seventy Corporation, where she helped broaden the career of Charlie Daniels, as well as his annual Volunteer Jam concerts. In 1979, Thiels co-founded Network Ink, Nashville’s first PR firm specific to the city’s music industry. She became the company’s sole owner in 1985, representing artists including Clint Black, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Kathy Mattea, Brooks & Dunn and Guy Clark.
In 1981, Thiels also started public relations efforts for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and was heavily involved in the capital campaign that helped finance the museum’s move to its current location in downtown Nashville. In 2001, she closed Network Ink to join the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as its vice president of public relations; she retired as a key member of its executive team in 2015. Along the way, she helped raise the Country Music Hall of Fame’s profile and spearheaded numerous museum events, including the annual medallion ceremony, which is held to induct new members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In November 2008, Thiels was honored during the museum’s annual Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum, which honors music industry leaders who represent the legacy of music business manager Louise Scruggs. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has honored Thiels’ love of gardening by now including a fresh herb garden onsite, the Liz Thiels Hillbilly Garden, which provides ingredients for the museum’s restaurant.
“Liz Thiels elevated and enhanced the profile of country music in countless ways,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement. “She was the consummate music business publicist — heading her own firm (Nashville’s first to concentrate on music), and also expertly guiding public relations for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, first as a PR consultant and then as a staff member, for a total of more than three decades. A vital figure in the museum’s successful move in 2001 to downtown Nashville, she was instrumental in strategizing for our growth and crucial in positioning the museum as both a key fixture in Nashville’s music community and an institution of national stature. I can’t imagine where the museum would be without her many years of wise counsel.”
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