10 Greats Who Should Be in the Country Music Hall of Fame
Better late than never, but for these acts, if not now, then when?
As a steward of a genre’s rich and colorful history, the Country Music Hall of Fame has, over the decades, been pretty airtight. Unlike its rock and roll counterpart, head-scratchers have been kept to a minimum, and its ranks haven’t been padded with second and third-tier artistry.
This is not to say that it has always perfectly reflected country music’s rich and colorful history. I’m still not sure why Tanya Tucker, the only ’70s hitmaker who was still consistently cranking out big hits well into the 1990s, had to wait until 2023 to finally receive her flowers — more than 50 years after “Delta Dawn” made her a teenage country superstar. But as they said on the “Grab That Dough” episode of The Golden Girls (the one that also included a reference to country stars Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers Band), better late than never. Right?
The clock is ticking loudly, however, for a number of deserving stars who have yet to be inducted into the hallowed Hall. And since less than a handful of performers are welcomed yearly, it would take nearly a decade to correct every oversight. But as we’ve already established, better late than never. So maybe in 2025, the Hall of Fame can begin here, with…
