Induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor for a member of the country community. Since 1961, the Hall of Fame has elected a new class each year that recognizes “significant contributions to the advancement of country music by individuals in both the creative and business communities.” Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless, and Bob McDill were elected as the 2023 class and formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday (October 22). The three-hour Medallion Ceremony saw musicians from all genres pay tribute to the honorees at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater.
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“Each of these honorees has left a deep and distinctive stamp on our music, now, to be forever enshrined in this Hall of Fame,” Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young said.
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The trio joined an esteemed club, which includes Kris Kristofferson, Randy Travis, Bill Anderson, Brenda Lee, Connie Smith, and Ricky Skaggs, all of whom were in attendance for the ceremony. Additionally, Bob Seger, Wynonna Judd and Charlie McCoy, Vince Gill, Jessi Colter and Margo Price, Dean Dillon, Jamey Johnson, Brandi Carlile, Sister Sadie, and Charley Crockett all performed throughout the evening.
McDill, who represented the Songwriter category bestowed songwriting advice upon attendees while Loveless, a Modern Era Artist inductee, shared her appreciation for the honor during an emotional speech. Veterans Era Artist Tucker, meanwhile, joined the performers who tributed her onstage and showcased her trademark vocals and dance moves.
Bob McDill
(L-R) Don Schlitz, Honoree Bob McDill and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young seen onstage during the Class of 2023 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
“For 30 years, no songwriter in Nashville was more meticulous … and no one composed more No. 1 hits in those years either,” Young said of McDill. Known for penning No. 1 hits “Amanda,” “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” “Song of the South,” “Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold),” and “Gone Country,” among others, McDill’s ability as a songwriter was demonstrated through three versatile performances. Crockett put his soulful spin on “Louisiana Saturday Night” while Country Music Hall of Famer Dean Dillon sang a powerful rendition of “All the Good Ones Are Gone,” a song the pair penned together and Pam Tillis recorded.
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Jamey Johnson closed out the tribute with “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” and prefaced his stripped-down performance with a compliment. “To say you’re one of my heroes is a gross understatement,” he told McDill. Don Schlitz echoed that sentiment ahead of formally inducting McDill. “I met my hero in April of 1973,” he said. “For my friends and me, Bob McDill is who we wanted to be. … We knew he wrote smart songs. He taught me mostly by example but he also told me a few secrets that I still think about every day. He taught me we get 10 songs a year by inspiration. Our job is to write 40 more songs a year for the radio.”
Jamey Johnson performs onstage at the Class of 2023 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
“Thank you, what a great honor this is,” McDill said before thanking his friends and family for being in attendance. He then noted that there are eight non-performing songwriters in the Country Music Hall of Fame. “I think it speaks very well of a panel to go beyond the sparkle and glitter of our business and include these writers in the Hall of Fame.
“I will conclude with Bob McDill’s wisdom for aspiring songwriters. Number one: Members of the music-buying public are probably smarter than you think they are. Number two: The money you earn from a song is in direct inverse proportion to the number of co-writers. Number three: When the great Henry Mancini was asked where he got his inspiration he said every morning at 9 a.m. at the piano.”
Patty Loveless
Honoree Patty Loveless speaks onstage during the Class of 2023 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
“Her catalog is rich and deep and her voice is transcendent,” Young praised Loveless ahead of her induction. “Today artists say they want to sing Patty Loveless and that is why she is joining the unbroken circle as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
Loveless was then celebrated by a stirring performance of “The Sounds of Loneliness” by Sister Sadie before Bob Seger surprised the theater with a spirited rendition of “She Drew a Broken Heart.” Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill, performed his favorite Loveless song, “Lonely Too Long,” before he officially inducted his longtime friend and frequent singing partner into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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“She did great music and was great to harmonize with,” Gill noted of Loveless and her authentic voice. “It always felt like [she] was the little sister I always wanted to sing with. … That’s what I hear in her voice–that blood harmony that I yearned for my whole life. That’s what we sound like together.”
Bob Seger performs onstage during the Class of 2023 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
An emotional Loveless then took the stage. “My goodness, if anybody knows me in this room, they know how emotional I can get and I’m trying to hold it together,” she said. She then admitted that she wished her late brother, Roger Ramey, was there to see her induction as they dreamed of this achievement together. “I don’t think that I could really have done this without many, many people that supported me. Like they said, I was a real shy kid but they were always pushing me and my brother was one, my whole family. … [It] is just amazing to me that I have been allowed to live the life that I have lived and been blessed to know each and every one of you.”
Tanya Tucker
Honoree, Tanya Tucker joins Brandi Carlile onstage during the Class of 2023 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
“[Tanya] was determined to be a star,” Young said of the final inductee of the evening. “Just as determined as her Daddy, she sacrificed her childhood for the dream.”
Tucker released her first song, the Top 10 hit “Delta Dawn,” at 13. It was only fitting that this song kicked off the tribute portion for the singer/songwriter. Country Music Hall of Famer Wynonna launched into a standout cover of the tune while fellow Hall of Famer Charlie McCoy assisted on harmonica. Margo Price and Jessi Colter followed suit with a barn-burner performance of “It’s a Little Too Late” and invited Tucker up to the stage to assist. Tucker’s charisma and Elvis Presley-like dance moves had the audience erupt in approval. She got up from her seat a second time from the front row, to sing the final line of the poignant “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane” with Brandi Carlile.
“You have carved out an ass-kickin’ path for every tough little girl in music,” Carlile said of Tucker ahead of her performance. “You carved out that path for me, and I’m never gonna stop trying to make it up to you. But I’m going to be able to sleep tonight because I just watched Tanya Tucker get inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
Honoree, Tanya Tucker joins Brandi Carlile onstage during the Class of 2023 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
Hall of Fame members Smith and Lee formally inducted Tucker into the esteemed country music family with heartfelt and comical praise of their longtime and loyal friend. “She’s one of the most giving, loving, and kindhearted people that I know,” Lee raved. “She’s loyal, she’s trustworthy–two things this business doesn’t know about.”
Tucker went on to thank her family, friends, and fans throughout her acceptance speech. “Anytime I think bad about myself, I think of my fans and the ones that always, always stayed by my side and were always supportive and I couldn’t have done anything without them,” she noted of her 52-year journey to the Hall.
She then added that there were “some missing faces here today” including her parents—Beau and Juanita Tucker. She called her father her first fan and said that he “wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“He blessed me with my mother too, Juanita,” Tucker continued. “I asked her a few years after ‘Delta Dawn,’: ‘How do you follow this man? It’d be crazy betting your whole future on a nine-year-old girl.’ And she said, ‘Tanya, your daddy believed in you and I believed in him.’ I want to be loved like that. … I want to thank all the great songwriters because you know, it all begins with a song and without the great songwriters I wouldn’t be anywhere near this Hall of Fame today. … I look back on these 52 years [and] it’s hard to make sense of it all … I’ll live out my days trying to thank you.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Ricky Skaggs as Ricky Scaggs.
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
