2017 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

The Country Music Association announced the 2017 inductees into The Country Music Hall of Fame this morning (Wednesday, April 5th). They are Alan Jackson, Jerry Reed and songwriter Don Schlitz.

The formal induction will take place during a Medallion Ceremony at CMA Theater later this year.

These inductees will bring the total number of this elite group of members in The Country Music Hall of Fame to 133.

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Alan Jackson was invited to join the Country Music Hall of Fame 28 years after he signed his record deal with Arista Nashville.

Now 58, Jackson has made quite a name for himself with his unique traditional sound and the fact that he is one of the best songwriters in the business. When he signed with Arista all those years ago, he took off like a rocket with hits such as: “Here in the Real World”, “Wanted”, “I’d Love You All Over Again”, “Chasin’ that Neon Rainbow”, “Chattahoochee”, “Don’t Rock the Jukebox”, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” and so many more. Over the years, Jackson has released more than 20 albums, nine of which are multi-platinum.

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Jerry Reed's career spanned from the 1950s - 1990s and he received CMA nominations over the course of four decades. His finger-style guitar picking skills scored him musical parts on many recordings with top artist and by the 1970s, he was one of country music’s most recognizable stars.

Jerry came to Nashville in 1962. Reed’s guitar playing even impressed Chet Atkins’ and many others. Reed was dubbed the Guitar Man and won CMA’s Instrumentalist of The Year award twice. His most popular songs include: “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” “Amos Moses”,  “East Bound and Down”, and “A Thing Called Love.”

If you saw the Smokey and the Bandit' Movies, you know that Jerry shared the big screen with Burt Reynolds  in those  movies and others....including “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings” and he worked with Adam Sandler in “The Waterboy.”

Reed died of complications related to emphysema in 2008.

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You may or may not be familiar with the name Don Schlitz, but I'll bet you know a number of the songs he has written including: Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” Randy Travis’ “On the Other Hand” and “Forever and Ever, Amen”, Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”,  Alison Krauss’ “When You Say Nothing At All”, and many more.

Don Schlitz has written 24 No. 1 country songs, has won CMA Song of the Year three times, picked up two Grammy Awards, was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Association Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012.

Schlitz moved to Nashville at age 20 and has written songs spanning five decades.

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All three of these individuals have made a lasting impression on many of our lives and deserve to be among the few who make it to the 'Country Music Hall of Fame'.