Dear Country Music Hall of Fame: We'd love to see these 12 deserving artists inducted
It may be country music's favorite barstool debate: Who isn't in the Country Music Hall of Fame yet, but should be?
Let's belly up to the bar and discuss.
From a Texas country legend to a country-rock band with unmatched popularity, a Canadian hitmaker who changed the game and one of Nashville's favorite voices, we're digging into who should be invited next into downtown Nashville's timeless rotunda.
Read on for a look at a dozen artists that deserve a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame, now that Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith Whitley and music industry titan Joe Galante are in.
"My heart is broken': Wynonna Judd tearfully honors Naomi Judd at Country Music Hall of Fame induction
Tanya Tucker
Make room in the Country Music Hall of Fame for Tanya Tucker, before she busts down the doors herself. This no-nonsense Texas country legend – who's been singing her way to the top of country charts since "Delta Dawn" at age 13 – deserves a spot among the finest to sing songs about hard nights, heartbreaks and heel-stompin' fun.
Her career spans five decades and her influence encompasses a cohort of modern troubadours raised on her fiery brand of country entertainment. In 2020, she won her first Grammy Award – weeks after her first headlining show at the Ryman and in the midst of a career resurgence backed by Shooter Jennings and Brandi Carlile.
As the song that won her the long-awaited Grammy says, "Bring my flowers now, while I'm livin' / I won't need your love when I'm gone."
Alison Krauss
She's one of the most decorated artists in the history of bluegrass, country and roots music (with 27 Grammys to her name) and she was just (finally) inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. It's high time the Hall of Fame made the master vocalist's legendary status official.
Kenny Chesney
It's been 19 years since Kenny Chesney played his first football stadium – and that's the scale the country star has operated on ever since. No country artist in history has consistently packed stadiums like Chesney (thanks to Garth Brooks' decade-long retirement). Thirty years (and 31 country chart-toppers) into his run, we'd say it's not a matter of "if," but "when" Chesney sees his plaque unveiled in the rotunda.
Shania Twain
Sensing the crushing wave of viral pop-crossover popularity that 1990s country music is having online and via streaming, it may be time for the Country Music Hall of Fame to consider inducting Shania Twain into its ranks. Arguments against Twain's induction (she's been eligible for nearly a decade) include the fact that she has a relatively thin musical catalog (five studio albums in a quarter-century) and that her use of Canadian producer Mutt Lange saw her deviate from the Nashville-base of the country music industry to attain success.
However, Twain has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her the top-selling female artist in country music of all time.
In an era where albums are more compilations of singles, Twain's 1997 album "Come On Over" may serve as a measuring stick to measure Hall of Fame-caliber artists of the future. "Come On Over" was released in November 1997 and saw its last single released in July 2000. Within that time, it achieved three No. 1 singles on country radio ("Love Gets Me Every Time," "You're Still the One," "Honey I'm Home") within a run of seven consecutive top 10 radio hits.
Along with Twain's massive pop-cultural appeal, that makes her a noteworthy omission.
Linda Ronstadt
She's been Rock Halled. She's been Kennedy Centered. When will Linda Ronstadt be a Country Music Hall of Famer? Though her multifaceted career saw her move from folk rock to new wave, Broadway and Latin pop, when Ronstadt sang country music, it made a powerful, permanent impression.
Throughout the 1970s, the peerless vocalist delivered brilliant takes on country classics, including "I Fall to Pieces," "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)" and her 1975 chart-topper "When Will I Be Loved." A decade later, she teamed up with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris for the celebrated "Trio" albums. Ronstadt has been retired from music since 2011, but her work continues to inspire new generations of artists.
Trisha Yearwood
On a 2021 Facebook live stream, Garth Brooks noted that his wife, Trisha Yearwood, not being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame was “one of the greatest crimes in country music history right now." He noted lack of induction was unjust because he knew "how many people moved to (Nashville)" because of the resonant qualities of his wife's voice.
Yearwood has been eligible for more than a decade. However, she has never had consistent chart-topping success.
Three years spanned between her topping the charts with her 1991 debut "She's in Love with the Boy" and 1994's "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)." Within that time, her Don Henley-featuring 1992 single "Walkaway Joe" reached No. 2 on country radio. That year, current Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn ("Neon Moon" and "Boot Scootin' Boogie") and Wynonna Judd ("She Is His Only Need," "I Saw the Light," "No One Else On Earth") dominated country radio.
Important to also mention is that 1995-2005 is the greatest-selling era for music in America ever. Thus, expectations for success for artists in this age are unjustly inflated.
In almost any era, Yearwood's 24 total album releases (four No. 1s), 85 singles and charted songs (six No. 1s), Grand Ole Opry membership, three Grammy Awards, three Academy of Country Music Awards and three Country Music Association Awards would be notable.
By this argument, Yearwood is induction-worthy, given that her body of work measures well against other eras.
The Eagles
OK, OK, plenty of country artists deserve a slot in the Country Music Hall of Fame before a staple rock 'n' roll outfit, but a case should be made for Glenn Frey, Don Henley and the rest of 1970s favorite The Eagles.
For years – especially on albums pre-dating 1976's "Hotel California" – the group released music firmly at the crossroads of rock and country music. The band's distinct, crisp sound expanded country music by introducing elements of the genre to a rock 'n' roll audience with cuts like "Take It Easy," "Lyin' Eyes," "Already Gone," "Tequila Sunrise" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling." Those songs and others helped lay groundwork for a genre-blurring country-rock template that Nashville artists continue to bring to arenas in 2022.
Dwight Yoakam
Speaking of country music with a touch of rock 'n' roll swagger, Dwight Yoakam pushed his version of country music into largely untouched spaces in the 1980s – attracting roots rock listeners and earning spins on college radio. He built a name in West Coast "cowpunk" clubs before conquering country sales charts with his take on the so-called "Bakersfield" sound. Need more proof? Revisit "Fast As You," "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere" or, of course, "Guitars, Cadillacs" for a reminder of how good a country song can be.
Freddy Fender
From the standpoint of increasing diversity and inclusion in the Country Music Hall of Fame, few artists with non-Caucasian ethnic backgrounds have existed with the depth and scope of catalog that the hall typically covets for new members – save Freddy Fender.
Alongside his redemption story of emerging successful after imprisonment in 1960 for marijuana possession, his is also a story as defined in determination as it is maintaining a standard of consistent excellence. Whether as a solo act or as a member of Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados, for 40 years songs like 1975's "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" and "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" seamlessly blend Tejano styles with traditional country flavor, yielding two No. 1 albums, four No. 1 singles, plus Grammy, ACM and CMA Awards.
June Carter Cash
Born into one legendary country music family (The Carter Family) and the matriarch of another (upon marrying Johnny Cash in 1968), June Carter Cash remained an inspiring and powerful presence in country music for more than 50 years. From playing with her sisters and Mother Maybelle to co-writing "Ring of Fire" to winning a Grammy in her twilight years, June Carter Cash's singular journey is worthy of recognition from the hall.
Bobbie Gentry
Unlike others on this list, Bonnie Gentry's career doesn't span half-a-century or feature a laundry list of lifetime accolades. But what she accomplished in her short time as a country singer should resonate for generations to come.
Before recusing herself from the limelight in 1982, Gentry – a groundbreaking woman who in the male-dominated 1960s music business held court over her songs and image – gave the world "Ode to Billie Joe," a chart-topping crossover hit so enriched in country music mystery that some listeners still lose sleep over it today (guilty). On "Billie Joe," "Fancy" and more, she sang stories rooted in a blend of country, folk, pop and soul music that featured seemingly effortless world-building and character depth.
She's one of the finest storytellers country music's known, period – and that should be enough to one day earn her a place in the fabled rotunda.
But if she receives an invitation, would she show up?
John Denver
John Denver may not be a Country Music Hall of Famer because his success as a folk-inspired pop artist could be considered more a byproduct of the genre's pop-adjacent early 1970s boom.
His most significant country radio impact can be linked to 18 months between 1974-1975, including "Annie's Song" and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." But as the genre adopted a more beat-driven, countrypolitan style, his chart-topping country success waned.
Still, Denver's reach as a country-affiliated artist as a TV and film performer, nature-loving humanitarian, and having two of his songs (1971's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and 1972's "Rocky Mountain High") named as official state songs for West Virginia and Colorado respectively, also makes him Hall of Fame worthy.