CMA Announces Ralph Emery, Vince Gill and Mel Tillis as Newest Members of Country Music Hall of Fame

CMA Announces Ralph Emery, Vince Gill and Mel Tillis as Newest Members of Country Music Hall of Fame

Announcement Made at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum With Special Guests Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Country Music Association announced today that influential radio and television personality Ralph Emery, multi-award-winning entertainer Vince Gill and legendary singer/songwriter Mel Tillis will become the newest members of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.

Emery will be inducted in the "Non-Performer" category, which is awarded every third year in a rotation with the "Career Achieved National Prominence Prior to World War II" and "Recording and/or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980" categories. Gill will be the third artist inducted in the "Career Achieved National Prominence Between 1975 and the Present" category, which was created in 2005. Tillis will be inducted in the "Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975" category.

"Induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame is the highest musical honor a Country Music artist and industry veteran can attain," said Tammy Genovese, CMA Chief Operating Officer. "All three of these extraordinary men are highly deserving of this honor.

"Ralph Emery brought more than just Country Music into our homes via radio and television. His entertaining and thought-provoking interviews have always provided a unique glimpse into the personal side of our favorite performers.

"As a singer, songwriter and performer, Mel set a high standard for all entertainers. His presence in movies and TV alongside the top actors of that time gave Country Music a higher profile in the '70s and made Mel a pop culture icon.

"Vince is the ultimate triple threat: a singer with the voice of an angel, a songwriter who conveys the joys and heartbreaks of life with every word he writes, and a consummate musician, who is equally at home playing guitar with Chet Atkins or Eric Clapton. As the longtime host of the CMA Awards, Vince also represented Country Music with dignity and humor for 12 years."

Emery, Gill and Tillis will be officially inducted in October during the traditional, invitation-only Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame(R) and Museum.

"It is with great pride that CMA will induct these three outstanding artists and personalities into the Country Music Hall of Fame, where they will join a small yet monumental group of entertainers and industry veterans whose influence on Country Music is enormous," said Genovese.

"The Country Music Hall of Fame's Medallion Ceremony, which takes place during the annual reunion of the membership, has historically been the occasion where new inductees are presented the keepsake medal commemorating their ownership of Country Music's paramount honor," said Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Director Kyle Young. "The medals traditionally are presented by a member of the Hall of Fame during an intimate and emotional evening of homecoming, storytelling, music, memories and fellowship.

"We are honored that CMA sees our ceremony as the appropriate setting for the official induction of new members. Including the formal induction as part of the evening will certainly seal the event's reputation as Country Music's most prestigious night."

The announcements were made this morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in a press conference hosted by Genovese. Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell congratulated the new inductees on behalf of Music City U.S.A. Emery was introduced by his longtime friend and former two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, Barbara Mandrell. Gill was introduced by Young, while Tillis was introduced by his good friend and Country Music Hall of Fame member Brenda Lee.

All inductees are chosen by CMA's Hall of Fame Panel of Electors, consisting of more than 300 anonymous voters appointed by the CMA Board of Directors. Emery, Gill and Tillis will increase membership in the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame from 98 to 101 inductees.

Ralph Emery - Walter Ralph Emery was born March 10, 1933 in McEwen, Tenn. From an early age he loved Country Music and the artists who performed it, and developed a passion for radio. After high school graduation, he worked a variety of jobs in Nashville before enrolling in the Tennessee School of Broadcasting. Soon after, Emery took the first step in his radio career by accepting a job at WTPR/Paris, Tenn. in 1951. He later worked at WNAH/Nashville and WAGG/Franklin before obtaining a job at his first major network radio station WSIX/Nashville. He made a brief sojourn to a Baton Rouge radio station before returning to Nashville at WMAK.

The pivotal moment of Emery's career was in 1957 when WSM/Nashville hired him to be their late-night disc jockey. Due to the 50,000-watt, clear-channel broadcasting range of the station at night, Emery's Country Music show was heard over much of the southern and central United States, making him one of the most listened to DJs in the nation. Emery interviewed all the Country Music artists of the day, from the top names to the aspiring stars, and often hosted impromptu jam sessions on air when artists dropped in to be on his show. If a Country artist wanted to increase the national exposure of their current single, one of their first bookings was a live interview on Emery's late night radio show. But Emery was more than just a radio host to most of the artists. He soon grew to be a friend and trusted confidante to the biggest Country stars while also winning the Country Disc Jockey of the Year Award six times.

The 1960s and '70s were a great period for Emery that saw him stretch beyond his all-night radio duties. In 1961, he became an announcer on the legendary Grand Ole Opry, which was broadcast nationally on WSM. A few years later he began hosting and producing a 90-minute, live morning television show on WSM-TV/Nashville that would run uninterrupted for nearly 30 years. The television show featured an in-studio band of local session musicians and rising singers. Lorrie Morgan and The Judds were among the featured performers on "The Ralph Emery Show" who later became nationally known Country artists. In its prime, two out of three Nashville homes tuned into "The Ralph Emery Show" every weekday morning, establishing the program as the strongest lead-in for NBC-TV's "Today" of any NBC affiliate in the nation at the time. Using the same format, he also hosted "Sixteenth Avenue South," an afternoon program for WSM-TV in the late '60s.

Emery appeared as himself in three movies: "Country Music on Broadway" (1965); "Nashville Rebel" (1966); and "The Road to Nashville" (1967). He acted alongside good friend Tex Ritter in the 1966 film "The Girl from Tobacco Row" and with Loni Anderson and Linda Hamilton in the 1982 television movie "Country Gold." He gave up his all-night radio show in 1972 because of the demands on his time and his growing television popularity; however, he continued to work in radio and radio syndication throughout the next several decades. From 1974 to 1980, he hosted the syndicated television series "Pop! Goes The Country" and in 1976 he served as the announcer for Dolly Parton's syndicated television series "Dolly." In 1981 and 1982, Emery hosted "Nashville Alive," a television show filmed in the Stagedoor Lounge at the Opryland Hotel. The program aired on the WTBS cable channel, marking Nashville's first foray into cable television.

WSM created The Nashville Network (TNN), a national cable network devoted to Country Music, in 1982. One year later, Emery was a natural choice to host the network's flagship program "Nashville Now," a nightly interview and performance program similar to "The Tonight Show." Infused with Emery's personable style, and introducing his new sidekick puppet Shotgun Red, during the 10 year run of the show Emery interviewed every major and rising Country artist. The show's popularity also drew non-Country guests including then- President George H.W. Bush, future President Bill Clinton, and non-Country celebrities Steve Allen, Jay Leno, Mickey Rooney, Cybill Shepherd and Lily Tomlin, among others. In 1986, Cable Guide Magazine named Emery its Favorite Cable Personality of the Year over competition including Dick Cavett and Larry King.

In 1989, he was inducted into the Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame.

While still at "Nashville Now," Emery released his first book Memories: The Autobiography of Ralph Emery in 1991, co-written with Tom Carter. Filled with anecdotes about his life and the artists he had known and interviewed, the book was a huge success and stayed high on the New York Times Best-Seller List for more than six months. Three more books were released over the next decade, including More Memories (also with Carter) in 1993; The View From Nashville (with Patsi Bale Cox) in 1998; and 50 Years Down a Country Road (also with Cox). These memoirs established Emery as a true historian and master storyteller, relating the behind-the-scenes stories about the Country Music artists and industry.

After ending "Nashville Now" in 1993, Emery moved on to produce and host a variety of specials for TNN. Among the most popular were his "On the Record" specials that featured in-depth interviews with celebrities such as Vince Gill, Andy Griffith, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette, and the first, nationally televised in-depth interview with former President George Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush after leaving the White House. He also hosted TNN's first daytime talk/variety television series and produced "Ryman Country Homecoming" and "Ralph Emery's Country Homecoming," a series of specials featuring the legends of Country Music performing and sharing stories from their lives. In 2000, Emery was named "Country Radio's Greatest Personality" in a survey of broadcasting professionals conducted by Radio and Records.

Remaining active on both the local and national scene, Emery launched a new live morning television show on WZTV-TV/Nashville in 2001, but left soon after it began due to health reasons. He continues to share Country Music and its artists with viewers nationwide on "Ralph Emery Live," his current television series on RFD-TV.

Earlier this year, Emery celebrated 40 years of marriage with his wife Joy. He has three children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Vince Gill - Vincent Grant Gill was born April 12, 1957 in Norman, Okla. His father encouraged him to learn to play guitar and banjo, which he did along with bass, mandolin, dobro and fiddle. While in high school, he performed in the bluegrass band Mountain Smoke, which built a strong local following and opened a concert for Pure Prairie League.

After graduating high school in 1975, Gill moved to Louisville, Ky., to be part of the band Bluegrass Alliance. After a brief time in Ricky Skaggs's Boone Creek band, Gill moved to Los Angeles and joined Sundance, a bluegrass group fronted by fiddler Byron Berline. In 1979, he joined Pure Prairie League as lead singer and recorded three albums with the band, the first of which yielded the Top 10 pop hit "Let Me Love You Tonight" in 1980. Departing the group in 1981, Gill joined Rodney Crowell's backing band the Cherry Bombs, where he met and worked with Tony Brown and Emery Gordy Jr., both of whom would later produce many of his future solo albums.

In 1983, Gill signed with RCA Records and moved with his then-wife Janis and daughter Jenny to Nashville to pursue his dream of being a Country Music artist. His debut mini-album Turn Me Loose (produced by Gordy) was released the following year, featuring his first charting solo single, "Victim of Life's Circumstances." The Things That Matter, his first full album that was released later that year, featured two Top 10 hits -- a duet with Rosanne Cash on "If It Weren't For Him" and a solo hit with "Oklahoma Borderline." In 1987 he achieved his first Top 5 single, "Cinderella," from his album The Way Back Home. In addition to performing as a solo artist, Gill also worked frequently as a studio musician, wrote songs for other artists and toured with Emmylou Harris.

Gill signed with MCA Records in 1989, reuniting with Brown as a producer, and released the album When I Call Your Name. While the debut single "Oklahoma Swing" (a duet with Reba McEntire) reached the Top 20, it was the title cut that firmly established the singer as new force on the Country Music scene. The song peaked at No. 2 and earned Gill his first CMA Award (Single of the Year) and his first Grammy Award (Best Male Country Vocal Performance) in 1990. The next single, "Never Knew Lonely," peaked at No. 3 and the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of more than 1 million copies.

Declining an offer from Mark Knopfler to join Dire Straits as a full-time member, Gill went on to record his next album Pocket Full of Gold, which also became a Platinum certified album after it was released in 1991. The album featured four Top 10 hits including the title cut, "Liza Jane," "Look at Us" and "Take Your Memory With You." That year he also earned his first CMA Vocal Event of the Year Award for his performance with Mark O'Connor and the New Nashville Cats (featuring Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner). In 1992 he released the quadruple-Platinum certified I Still Believe In You. The title cut became Gill's first No. 1 single, followed quickly by "Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away." The album also featured the hits "One More Last Chance," "Tryin' to Get Over You" and "No Future in the Past." Gill also topped the charts with "The Heart Won't Lie," his second duet with McEntire, which was featured on her album It's Your Call.

Gill co-hosted the CMA Awards for the first time in 1992. He continued to host "Country Music's Biggest Night(TM)" for 12 consecutive years, ending his run in 2003. Gill not only set a record for the most times anyone has consecutively hosted a televised awards show, but he set the bar for other television awards emcees with his mix of respect for his peers and the audience, quick ad libs and gentle humor.

Gill recorded his first Christmas album Let There Be Peace on Earth in 1993, before releasing When Love Finds You in 1994. This album also sold more than 4 million copies and featured six hits including the title cut, "What the Cowgirls Do," "Whenever You Come Around," "Which Bridge to Cross (Which Bridge to Burn)," "You Better Think Twice" and "Go Rest High On That Mountain." Becoming an in-demand duet partner, Gill sang with Amy Grant on "House of Love," the title cut of her 1994 album, which became a hit on adult contemporary radio stations. That same year he also sang with Gladys Knight on "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" from the all-star Rhythm, Country and Blues album, and with Dolly Parton on a duet version of her signature "I Will Always Love You" from her Something Special album that earned the duo the CMA Vocal Event of the Year Award in 1996.

His 1996 album High Lonesome Sound leaned back towards his bluegrass days, with hits including the title cut, "My Pretty Little Adrianna," "Worlds Apart," "You and You Alone" and "A Little More Love." The Key, released in 1998, was a return to hardcore Country while chronicling the turmoil in his life including the death of his father and the breakup of his first marriage. The album, which was one of his most critically acclaimed releases and his first to top the Billboard Country Albums Chart, featured the hits "If You Ever Have Forever In Mind," and his duet with Patty Loveless on "My Kind of Woman/My Kind of Man." His status as an in-demand duet partner continued with his 1999 duet "If You Ever Leave Me" with Barbra Streisand on her album A Love Like Ours.

Gill married singer Amy Grant in 2000, and released Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye that same year. The album commemorated his new relationship and featured the hit "Feels Like Love." The couple celebrated the birth of their daughter Corinna Grant Gill in 2001. Three years later, Gill released Next Big Thing, his first solo-produced album, featuring the title cut and "Young Man's Town." He reunited with Rodney Crowell, Tony Brown, Richard Bennett and Hank Devito (as well as new additions Eddie Bayers, John Hobbs and Michael Rhodes) as the Notorious Cherry Bombs, and the supergroup released an album in 2004 on Universal South Records.

In 2006, Gill released These Days, a groundbreaking, four-CD set featuring 43 new recordings of diverse musical stylings. The project featured a variety of guest performers including John Anderson, Guy Clark, Sheryl Crow, Phil Everly, daughter Jenny Gill, wife Amy Grant, Emmylou Harris, Diana Krall, Michael McDonald, Bonnie Raitt, LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood and more.

Gill has sold more than 22 million albums. He has earned 18 CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1993 and 1994. He is tied with George Strait for having won the most CMA Male Vocalist Awards (five), and is currently second only to Brooks & Dunn for accumulating the most CMA Awards in history. Gill is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and has received 18 Grammy Awards to date, the most of any male Country artist. Gill currently serves as president of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Board of Officers and Trustees. An avid golfer, he helped create the annual Vince Gill Pro-Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament ("The Vinny") in 1993 in order to help support junior golf programs throughout Tennessee. Besides being known for his talent as a performer, musician and songwriter, Gill is regarded as one of Country Music's best known humanitarians, participating in hundreds of charitable events throughout his career.

Mel Tillis - Lonnie Melvin Tillis was born Aug. 8, 1932 in Tampa, Fla. At age 3, the young Tillis suffered from malaria, which is believed to have caused his life-long stuttering problem. Interested in music at an early age, he learned to play guitar, drums and violin. His first public performance was at age 16 in a local talent show. After high school graduation, Tillis joined the United States Air Force and served in Okinawa, Japan where he joined a musical group called The Westerners that performed at most military clubs in that city.

Tillis exited military service in 1955 and moved to Dover, Fla., where he worked as a fireman on the Atlantic Coastline Railroad. This enabled him to use his railroad pass to travel to Nashville. A year later he moved to Music City to follow his dreams of being a songwriter. Webb Pierce recorded his song "I'm Tired," which earned Tillis a songwriter contract with Pierce's Cedarwood Music Publishing Company. Pierce went on to have success with several more Tillis compositions, including "I Ain't Never," "No Love Have I," "Honky Tonk Song," "Tupelo County Jail" and "Sawmill." During this time other artists also recorded his songs, including Bobby Bare ("Detroit City"), Patsy Cline ("Strange" and "So Wrong"), Stonewall Jackson ("Mary Don't You Weep"), Brenda Lee ("Emotions") and Ray Price ("One More Time," "Burning Memories" and "Heart Over Mind").

Tillis enjoyed writing songs for others, but he also wanted to be a performer in his own right. His first single, a cover of "It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song" was released in 1957. Tillis charted a Top 40 single in 1958 with his song "The Violet and a Rose" (which later became a hit separately for both Little Jimmy Dickens and Wanda Jackson) and again in 1959 with "Finally." He also succeeded with "Sawmill" and "Georgia Town Blues," two duets with Bill Phillips. Heart Over Mind, his first album, was released on Columbia Records in 1962. Tillis teamed with Pierce for the duet "How Come Your Dog Don't Bite Nobody But Me" in 1963. While on Columbia, Tillis also released singles such as "The Brooklyn Bridge," "Loco Weed" and "Walk On, Boy," before moving to Kapp Records.

In the mid-to-late 1960s, Tillis achieved greater success as both a performer and as a songwriter. After reaching the Top 15 in 1965 with "Wine," he had success with "Stateside" in 1966 (he named his band The Statesiders after this song), "Life Turned Her That Way" in 1967, and his first Top 10 hit "Who's Julie?" in 1968. Kenny Rogers and the First Edition had a Top 10 pop hit with the Tillis-penned "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" in 1969. Other artists who recorded hits with Tillis compositions include Waylon Jennings ("Mental Revenge") and Charley Pride ("The Snakes Crawl at Night").

Moving from the '60s into the '70s, Tillis became a major force on the Country charts. He hit the Top 10 twice in 1969 with "These Lonely Hands of Mine" and "She'll Be Hanging Around Somewhere." The next year he reached the Top 5 twice with "Heart Over Mind" and "Heaven Everyday" while also scoring big on the charts that year with "Commercial Affection" and "Arms of a Fool." He began a series of duets with Sherry Bryce in 1971, including "Take My Hand" and "Living and Learning," and in 1972 topped the charts for the first time with "I Ain't Never." Tillis recorded a series of Top 5 smashes including "Neon Rose," "Midnight, Me and the Blues," "Stomp Them Grapes," "Memory Maker" and "Woman in the Back of My Mind." Most of these songs were recorded while Tillis was signed to MGM Records.

In 1976 Tillis was named the CMA Entertainer of the Year. That same year he was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame and he signed with MCA Records. During this time period he scored many No.1 hits including "Good Woman Blues," "Heart Healer," "I Believe in You" and "Coca Cola Cowboy." Tillis moved to Elektra Records in 1979, achieving hits including "Blind in Love," "Lying Time Again," "Your Body is an Outlaw," "Steppin' Out," "A Million Old Goodbyes," and his No. 1 hit, "Southern Rains" in 1981. That same year he released Mel and Nancy, a duet album with Nancy Sinatra featuring the hit "Texas Cowboy Night." Switching back to MCA Records, Tillis recorded several more hit singles including "In the Middle of the Night" in 1983, and his Top 10 hit, "New Patches" in 1984. Tillis would later record for RCA Records, Mercury Records and Curb Records. To date, Tillis has scored 36 Top 10 singles, six of which peaked at No. 1.

After making his acting debut in a 1973 episode of the television series "Love, American Style," Tillis acted in several television and movie productions over the next decade. He made guest appearances on the television series "Nashville 99" (1977), "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979), "The Tim Conway Show" (1980) and "Love Boat" (1983). He co-hosted a short-lived ABC television series with Susan Anton in 1978 entitled "Mel and Susan Together," and acted in several made-for-television movies, including "Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol" (1979), "The Stockers" (1981) and "Bandit: Bandit Goes Country" (1994). Tillis also graced the silver screen, beginning with "W.W. and Dixie Dancekings" in 1975 alongside Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed. He went on to appear in several other movies including "The Villain" (1977) with Kirk Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Every Which Way But Loose" (1979) with Clint Eastwood, "Smokey and the Bandit II" (1980) with Reynolds, Reed, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason, "Cannonball Run" (1980) and "Cannonball Run II" (1984) both alongside Reynolds and an all-star cast and "Uphill All The Way" (1986) with Roy Clark and Glen Campbell.

In the 1980s, Tillis remained an in-demand songwriter, writing a No.1 hit for Ricky Skaggs ("Honey (Open That Door)") among others. He opened a theater in Branson, Mo., where he performed more than 4,000 shows, entertaining sold- out audiences regularly until 2002 when he sold his theater and returned home to Florida. He wrote his autobiography Stutterin' Boy in the late '80s and released his first gospel album, Beyond the Sunset, in 1993. He teamed with Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings and Jerry Reed in 1998 as The Old Dogs. The quartet recorded a two-CD set of songs written by Shel Silverstein and was nominated for CMA Vocal Event of the Year a year later. In 1999, BMI named Tillis the "Songwriter of the Decade" for two decades. He was named the Golden Voice Entertainer of the Year in 2001, the same year he received the Golden R.O.P.E. Songwriter Award. In 2002, Tillis's daughter, Country Music artist Pam Tillis, released the album It's All Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis, a tribute album to her father. The project featured father and daughter performing together on the last track, "Come On and Sing." Fulfilling his long-time dream, Tillis joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in June.

Tillis, who has six children and six grandchildren, continues to perform approximately 100 concerts per year with his band The Statesiders. He currently resides in Florida, where he enjoys painting, fishing, gardening, cooking and University of Florida ballgames.

Quotes from today's Hall of Fame announcement are below.

VINCE GILL QUOTES

How did you react after learning that you will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year?

I was pretty overwhelmed, to put it mildly. After I found out, I got in the car and took off driving ... and weeping.

How did you prepare for this announcement?

I'm not a speechwriter. I've lived my life off the cuff. It's so heady that I don't know if I can get my arms around it, even when it comes. I've been involved so much, just being on the Board here at the Hall of Fame for so many years and watching so many of the medallion ceremonies the Hall of Fame does down here, which are so respectful of those going into the Hall. I sing at them, play at them, and I'm always a part of them. So this will really be a mind-bender [laughs].

How is the Hall of Fame unique even among the other honors you've received?

This is the pinnacle of a career, hands-down. As a kid learning to play, I knew there was a baseball Hall of Fame. I knew there was a football Hall of Fame, because I was such a little athlete. But I learned music for the love of music, never with a result in mind.

Right now, how do you feel?

I'm just overwhelmed. An awful lot of people deserve to be here before I do, but I didn't have anything to do with the voting or how it happened and I'm grateful that people thought enough of me to select me for this.

MEL TILLIS QUOTES

How did you learn that you will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year?

I was out on my 400-acre farm in Ashland City [Tenn.], in my garden. I got a call on my cell phone from Tammy [Genovese, CMA Chief Operating Officer]. She let me know -- and I dropped an eggplant [laughs]. Anyway, I'm thankful that I won. I hope I deserve it.

How do you prepare for this event?

Well, I wrote down a little speech, and Kathy said, "You ought to just do it from the heart." I said, "My speech is from my heart, but I can't remember it like I used to." So I got some notes.

How is the Hall of Fame unique even among the other honors you've received?

Man, I've been in the business for 51 years. I was at the first meeting of the CMA, at the Nashville Life and Accident Insurance Company Building, at Seventh and Union. It's gone now, but it was upstairs, where they had the Friday night Opry. We had our first meeting there, and I remember Connie B. Gay, Jim Denny ... Old Jim Denny, he told a buddy of mine, a songwriter, Wayne Walker, "I want you boys to be there." We worked for Jim Denny and Webb Pierce at the Cedarwood Music Publishing Company. We didn't want to go, so he said, "If you don't go, I'm gonna whup your ass!" So we went [laughs]. It was the first meeting. We joined CMA and we've been members ever since.

How do you feel at this moment, right before the induction?

It's a feeling of accomplishment. It's a nice birthday present; I'll be 75 years old tomorrow. It's like icing on the cake.

RALPH EMERY QUOTES

How did you learn that you will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year?

Tammy [Genovese, CMA Chief Operating Officer] called me. I'd only met her briefly. Anyway, somebody called the house and said, "You don't need to come down. It'll take about 15 minutes." I said, "No, I want to go. I want to meet this lady. She's the head of the CMA, so I want to get to know her." I went down. I waited in the conference room, she came in, we said hello, and she began to ask me if I knew various people down south of here in Alabama and Mississippi. Then I said, "Why did you call me?" She said, "To tell you that you are now in the Hall of Fame." Later, I thought, "What a mean trick!"

What makes membership in the Hall of Fame unique among awards?

Number one, you never feel you will get there, at least in your own lifetime, because there are so many people who should be here. So why you? And there's nothing we can do to control it. Most of these people in show business exert a certain amount of control, but there's no control over this. You can't do anything to get in. You can't pay to get in. It just has to happen as a result of your work. Mel, Vince and I were having this same conversation: If the work is sufficient, maybe someday they'll recognize it.

You can't tell me who won the Grammy three years ago or who was CMA Entertainer of the Year four years ago. But here, once you're in the Country Music Hall of Fame, people remember it forever.

How do you prepare for this ceremony?

I've been writing speeches since Friday. I've written four. I've only brought one [laughs]. But I wrote it this way and that way. Even after doing the television show last night, I had more revisions. And we made the final revisions this morning. So I guess I'm ready. They wrote on there, "You can speak as long as you want to" and I assumed about anything I want to. I told Vince a while ago, "You know, you've got the tough job. You've got to follow Mel Tillis." But I'm really honored by this. I can't really imagine my being in the Hall of Fame.

So how do you feel now?

I have mixed feelings. I once asked Barbara Mandrell ... She rode with the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy equivalent of the Thunderbirds. She said, "It's so hard to tell people what that's like. It's like trying to tell people who've never had sex what that is like." [laughs] I'm using that as a metaphor. It is difficult for me to tell you how I feel, how excited I am, and how in wonder I am that this has happened.

First Call Analyst:
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Source: Country Music Association

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