Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

10/17/2026

Election to the Country Music Hall of Fame is country music's highest honor, and members-elect the Stanley Brothers will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday, October 18.

Raised in southwestern Virginia, Carter (born August 27, 1925) and Ralph (born February 25, 1927) Stanley came from a musical family. Their father, Lee Stanley, was a logger and a gifted singer who taught his boys traditional songs such as “Man of Constant Sorrow.” Their mother, Lucy Smith Stanley, was a five-string banjoist who began teaching Ralph the clawhammer style of playing when he was a child.

Bluegrass music was still in its infancy when Ralph and Carter formed their band, the Stanley Brothers & the Clinch Mountain Boys, in 1946. Carter, the main vocalist, wrote many bluegrass standards, such as “The White Dove” and “The Lonesome River.” Ralph provided tenor vocal harmonies and propulsive banjo playing.

From 1947 until Carter’s death in 1966, the Stanley Brothers & the Clinch Mountain Boys recorded about 350 songs. Following Carter’s death, Ralph led the band for fifty years and became a revered elder statesman of the genre.

More than any other bluegrass act, the Stanleys imbued the sound with a haunting sense of emotion, drawn from their mountain community and roots in the Primitive Baptist Church. Together, their music influenced many artists, including Country Music Hall of Fame members Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, who were both members of the Clinch Mountain Boys.

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10/16/2026

Election to the Country Music Hall of Fame is country music's highest honor, and member-elect Paul Overstreet Music will be inducted on Sunday, October 18.

A master of catchy melodies and clever, concise wordplay, Paul Overstreet helped drive country music’s rise in popularity in the 1980s and ‘90s. Overstreet’s compositions “On the Other Hand,” “Forever and Ever, Amen,” “When You Say Nothing at All,” and “Love Can Build a Bridge”—to cite a few—rank among the most recognizable hits of the era.

Born in Newton, Mississippi, on March 17, 1955, Overstreet grew up in Vancleave, Mississippi, the youngest of five children raised by a single mother. After graduating from high school in 1973, he grabbed his acoustic guitar and set out for Music City in a 1968 Ford Fairlane.

In Nashville, Overstreet played to sparse crowds on Lower Broadway, where he earned invitations to join bands with grizzled veterans and other struggling newcomers. He teamed up with fellow young songwriters, including future Country Music Hall of Fame member Don Schlitz, to write songs for several young, traditional-leaning artists. His efforts paid off.

From 1981 to 1991, Overstreet earned twenty-seven Top Ten country hits. BMI named him Country Songwriter of the Year for an unprecedented five consecutive years (1987 to 1991), a feat no peer has come close to equaling. In addition to writing hit songs for many artists, including Country Music Hall of Fame members Kenny Chesney, George Jones, the Judds, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, and Keith Whitley, Overstreet has recorded many of his own—as a member of the trio S-K-O (Schuyler, Knobloch, and Overstreet) and as a solo artist.

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10/15/2026

Election to the Country Music Hall of Fame is country music's highest honor, and member-elect Tim McGraw will be inducted on Sunday, October 18.

Time and again, Tim McGraw has shown he knows what to do with a good song. From his debut in 1993 down to today, he’s amassed twenty-nine No. 1 hits on “Billboard” country charts. Whether offering philosophical looks at life and love (“Please Remember Me”), delivering party-hearty anthems (“I Like It, I Love It”), or acting in Hollywood productions, he has made it all look easy. But it wasn’t.

Born in an unincorporated small town in Louisiana in 1967, McGraw had a rough-and-tumble youth. He and two sisters were raised by a single mom who worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. At age eleven, Tim learned that his father was Major League Baseball pitcher Tug McGraw, which profoundly shaped his belief in what he could accomplish.

McGraw graduated second in his high school class and was set to study law in college, but his growing interest in music drew him to Nashville in 1989. Though success came slowly at first, almost forty years later, he has earned eleven platinum or multi-platinum albums, over sixty Top Ten country hits, and twenty-nine No. 1 country singles. He has recorded award-winning duets with wife Faith Hill, including the No. 1 hit “It’s Your Love.”

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10/15/2026

The Chicks began as a Texas-based cowgirl quartet, but once they became a trio and signed to a major Nashville record label, Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, and Emily Strayer quickly became one of country music’s hottest acts. They earned a reputation as cool, empowered, and very talented women by releasing songs rooted in traditional country but with a pop flair and, often, a lyrical bite.

After releasing their debut single, “I Can Love You Better,” in 1997—the year this photo was taken—the Chicks sold twenty-eight million albums, earned fourteen No. 1 songs, and won more than two dozen major industry awards between 1998 and 2003. Their first two albums for Sony, 1998’s “Wide Open Spaces” and 1999’s “Fly,” both went to No. 1, sold more than ten million copies, and were named Best Country Album at the Grammys and Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music. Five singles from across the albums went to No. 1 on the country chart, and six more landed in the Top Ten.

In 2000, the Country Music Association named the Chicks Entertainer of the Year. They remain the only all-women band to win the trophy.

10/13/2026

Throughout the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, songwriter Rory Bourke penned songs recorded by Lynn Anderson, Kenny Chesney, Anne Murray, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Rich, and dozens more. The three-time ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year (1975, 1979, 1983) and 1989 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee died Saturday at the age of eighty-four.

Born July 14, 1942, Rory Michael Bourke grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, enthralled by the movie musicals of the era. He taught himself to play guitar while in college at northern Maryland’s Mount St. Mary’s, began writing songs, and earned a gig at a local coffeehouse, the Purple Onion.

After college, Bourke worked for the New York Central Railroad, then at a record store, and then in promotions for Mercury Records—first in Cleveland, then in Chicago, and then, beginning in 1969, in Nashville. All the while, he wrote songs in his spare time. Music publisher Don Gant became Bourke’s mentor and introduced him to Chappell Music’s Henry Hurt, who signed Bourke to a song-publishing contract in 1971.

Even before he was a staff songwriter, Bourke landed a big cut: Elvis Presley released “Patch It Up,” which Bourke wrote with early collaborator Eddie Rabbitt, in 1970. Five years later, Presley released another of Bourke’s compositions, “Your Love’s Been a Long Time Coming,” which Bourke wrote about becoming a father.

Mel Tillis’s 1972 single “Neon Rose” was Bourke’s first Top Ten as a songwriter. The following year, Charlie Rich’s recording of “The Most Beautiful Girl”—written by Bourke, Billy Sherrill, and Norro Wilson—became a million-selling multi-week No. 1 in both country and pop music.

Among Bourke’s other hits as a songwriter are Anne Murray’s 1984 CMA Single of the Year “A Little Good News,” George Strait’s platinum-selling chart-topper “You Look So Good in Love,” Conway Twitty’s Top Five “I Couldn’t See You Leavin’,” K. T. Oslin’s chart-topper “Come Next Monday,” and Jo Dee Messina’s first No. 1 single, “Bye Bye.” Bourke co-wrote the latter song with Phil Vassar, who later recorded his own version.

While Bourke did occasionally write solo, he was known for his collaborative nature. "I've always felt that my greatest ability is when I think of myself as a writer, I think of myself as like an umbrella over the project,” he said in 2024. Charlie Black and Mike Reid were frequent co-writers, and K. T. Oslin was a songwriting mentee early on in her career.

Photo by Don Putnam.

10/11/2026

Red Foley was a hot property when he came to Nashville in early 1946 to headline the “Prince Albert Show,” the Grand Ole Opry’s network segment. The Opry hired Foley as a replacement for Roy Acuff, who temporarily left in a salary dispute, and the change personified the rise of smooth-voiced solo country vocalists and the waning of the stringband era.

Along with Hank Williams and other artists, Foley became a natural focus of Nashville’s nascent recording industry. In 1947, Decca executive Paul Cohen began making frequent trips to Nashville to record Foley and other country talent. Among the many hits Foley cut in Nashville were the boogie tunes “Tennessee Saturday Night” and “Sugarfoot Rag,” the inspiring gospel song “Peace in the Valley,” and the monster crossover hit “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy,” which reached No. 1 on both the country and pop charts in 1950.

Foley contributed greatly to the rise of the country music industry following World War II and played a major role in the expansion of both Nashville and Springfield, Missouri, as country music centers. He's pictured here (right) with a group of square dancers in the 1950s.

Foley lived to enjoy election to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967. Read more: https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/red-foley

10/09/2026

"American Currents: State of the Music" | Morgan Wallen

The The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s highest-certified country artist of all time, Morgan Wallen is a cultural phenomenon. In 2025, "Billboard" named the Sneedville, Tennessee, native the year's top-selling artist across all genres. He is the first male country act to achieve that status in more than thirty years.

Wallen wore this Simpson racing suit in a video shown just before he appeared onstage at shows on his sold-out "I'm the Problem Tour." He donated $3 from every ticket sale to his Morgan Wallen Foundation, which supports programs for youth in the areas of sports and music.

"American Currents" explores musical developments, artist achievements, and notable events shaping the genre today. Reserve tickets: https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/calendar/american-currents-state-of-the-music

10/08/2026

In September, cardiologist and country artist Dr. Cleveland “Cleve” Francis visited the Museum to share stories from his life and dual careers. Here, he offers advice to a younger generation.

Watch the full program: https://watch.countrymusichalloffame.org/videos/cleve-francis-book-talk-2026

10/05/2026

Print a postcard with Hatch Show Print, embellish an instrument, and join us for a Halloween Hootenanny! The Museum offers a wide range of fun and interactive programs for the whole family. Plus, local kids visit free!

Youth 18 and under who are residents of Nashville-Davidson and bordering counties, including Cheatham, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson, always visit free of charge, with 25% off admission for up to two accompanying adults.

Learn more: https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/local-kids