The Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, Waylon Jennings, and “Whisperin'” Bill Anderson are among 12 acts to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this fall. Also to be inducted during a dinner Oct. 4 in Nashville are the Delmore Brothers, Don Gibson, Homer & Jethro, the Jordanaires, Don Law, the Louvin Brothers, Ken Nelson, and Webb Pierce.
The Country Music Association (CMA), which usually inducts two or three performers a year, is having the one-time mass induction as part of festivities around the opening of a new Hall of Fame building in Music City this summer. It will be the largest class ever inducted into the Hall of Fame, said Ed Benson, executive director for the CMA, a trade organization that promotes country music.
“I can’t talk for grinning,” said Anderson, a star of the Grand Ole Opry radio show. “I’ve tried never to get caught up in wondering about this sort of thing, but now that it’s happened it is very exciting.”
Jennings has repeatedly attacked the CMA voting process, claiming block voting has marred the integrity of the awards. Inductees are chosen by a panel of 300 electors appointed by the CMA Board of Directors. “Waylon has been critical of the CMA over the years, but that’s not a part of the nomination and election process,” Benson said. “He is an incredible and unique talent, and his going into the Hall of Fame is well deserved.”
The inductees will also be recognized during the CMA Awards, which will be broadcast Nov. 7 on CBS. Hosted by Vince Gill, the ceremony will take place at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
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