Singers Jimmy Dean, Ferlin Husky and Don Williams and producer Billy Sherrill will become the newest members of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame, it was announced Wednesday.
Due to a tie in the voting, both Dean and Husky will be inducted in the “Veterans Era Artist” category. Williams will be inducted in the “Modern Era Artist” category. Sherrill will be inducted in the “Non-Performer” category, which is awarded every third year in a rotation.
Sherrill was best known as a producer, particularly for Tammy Wynette and George Jones.
Dean, Husky, Sherrill, and Williams will increase membership in the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame from 108 to 112 inductees.
“These four gentlemen broadened country music immensely with their talents, exposing millions of fans around the world to our format,” said Steve Moore, Chairman of the CMA Board of Directors. “Their contributions to the genre and to popular culture are immeasurable, and we are proud to award them the highest honor in country music.”
The four will be inducted at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum later this year. Since 2007, the Museum’s Medallion Ceremony, an annual reunion of the Hall of Fame membership, has served as the official rite of induction for new members.
“The 2010 honorees are Southern men who have used their voices, songwriting, instruments and life experience to create enduring country music that dominated popularity charts throughout the middle and closing decades of the 20th Century,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “Their songs, recordings, live performances, and presence on radio, television, and even in the movies, are part of the sonic architecture that now frames our music in the mainstream. We extend our heartiest congratulations to them all and look forward to the stories and fellowship to come.”
“I thought I was already in there,” said Dean joking. “Seriously, it brought a huge grin to my face. I am honored.”
An emotional Husky said, “I’d like to thank my Lord Jesus Christ for dying for me, saving my soul, and bringing me into the world as a country boy. And also, for giving me the talent to sing, entertain, and help convert millions around the world to country music. I’m still a country boy and proud of it. In the words of my close friend, the late Stringbean, ‘I sure am glad I’m me!’”
“Anything I have ever accomplished would have been totally impossible without the help and support of the greatest songwriters and musicians in the world, and, of course, what I stole from Owen Bradley,” said Sherrill. Billy Sherrill is important to me alot because HE DID what Music Row had said was impossible in 2000..he put Gerorge Jones BACK on FM radio with his song ‘Choices”.
“I feel extremely honored and overwhelmed with this news,” said Williams. “It is unbelievable that CMA thought about me in this manner.”
The CMA created the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 to recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to the format. The categories and voting process were updated in 2009, taking effect with the 2010 ballot. The current categories are:
Modern Era - An artist becomes eligible for induction in this category 20 years after they first achieve national prominence. They will remain eligible for that category for the next 25 years. [This replaced the former "Career Achieved National Prominence Between 1975 and the Present" category].
Veterans Era - An artist becomes eligible for induction in this category 45 years after they first achieve national prominence. [This category combined the former "Career Achieved National Prominence between World War II and 1975" category (which was voted on annually) and "Career Achieved National Prominence Prior to World War II" sub-category (which was voted on every third year in rotation) into one group].
Rotating Categories - The third slot is a rotating category, with each group in the spotlight every third year. The three rotating categories are Non-Performer, Songwriter, and Recording and/or Touring Musician. [The Songwriter category was created in the 2009 update, and will induct its first member in 2011. Previously, songwriters were included in the Non-Performer category].
The Veterans Era and Modern Era categories have separate Nominating Committees, each made up of 12 industry leaders who serve three-year terms. The Modern Era Nominating Committee also oversees the Rotating Categories. Final nominations are then submitted to two separate Panels of Electors, made up of historians and industry professionals that have a historical perspective on country. One Panel votes for both the Modern Era and the Rotating Categories, while a second Panel votes for the Veterans Era category. Both Panels are updated annually by the CMA Awards and Recognition Committee. Individuals can serve on both panels. All panelists remain anonymous.
