LIST: Georgia musicians in the Country Music Hall of Fame
GEORGIA (WRBL) — The Country Music Hall of Fame may be based out of Nashville, but Georgia has its fair share of musicians who achieved one of country music’s highest honors.
Take a look at which Georgia-born artists have made their mark in the the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Ray Stevens (Clarkdale)
“For more than fifty years, Ray Stevens has been among the Nashville recording industry’s most talented, versatile, and inventive forces. He may be known as the Clown Prince of Country Music for his novelty hits, but his list of talents is even more impressive: singer, songwriter, session musician, arranger, producer, music publisher, TV star, and real estate developer.”
Stevens was born in Clarkdale — a town in Cobb County about two hours north from Columbus – where he started playing piano at six years old. Stevens and family moved to Albany about four years later.
Before his last year in high school, Stevens moved to Atlanta and worked as a DJ. He later went on to study music at Georgia State University.
During his time in college, Stevens started recording music at Mercury Records. As he began topping the charts, his label executive advised he move to Nashville with his family.
Stevens was inducted into the hall of fame in the 1980s. He’s now 85-years-old and still residing in Nashville as of last year.
Jerry Reed (Atlanta)
“Jerry Reed left indelible marks as a hit recording artist, virtuoso guitarist, songwriter, and movie star. His guitar work was marked by syncopation and complexity, while his songwriting and stage persona conveyed strutting wit and backwoods intelligence. Still widely emulated as a picker, he combined complex independent lines in the guitar’s bass and treble ranges and used rippling combinations of fretted and open strings.”
Born in Atlanta, Reed began learning guitar and making TV appearances at a young age. By 17, Reed had caught the attention of Capitol Records.
A few years later in 1958, Reed enlisted in the military. He died about 50 years later.
Reed was inducted into the hall of fame almost a decade after his death.
Brenda Lee (Atlanta)
“A professional singer by the age of six and a recording artist by the age of twelve, Brenda Lee has fashioned a career of uncommon durability that spans more than sixty years and transcended the musical boundaries of pop and country music.“
Lee was born in Emory University Hospital and grew up in Atlanta. She started singing by the age of three and it’s said her rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” led her to start making radio and television appearances.
A few years later, Lee and her family moved to Cincinnati, but later found themselves back on the eastern side of the Peach State in Augusta. Lee continued rising to stardom through regular TV appearances until she eventually signed with Decca Records.
Lee was inducted into the hall of fame in 1997. She now resides in Nashville at 79-years-old.
Alan Jackson (Newnan)
“As a songwriter, recording artist, and performer, Alan Eugene Jackson brought tradition-rich country music into the twenty-first century. He built a multi-platinum-selling, award-winning career while holding fast to country traditions while many of his contemporaries embraced pop and rock influences.”
Born in Newnan, Jackson moved to Nashville in the mid-80s where he worked in the mailroom of Nashville Network. He was the first artist signed to Arista Nashville.
To River City residents, Jackson is probably best known for a hit named “Chattahoochee.”
Alan Jackson was inducted into the hall of fame in 2017. He has multiple homes — one being in Clarkesville, Georgia.
Pete Drake (Augusta)
“Pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake left a lasting mark not only on country music, but also on rock, gospel, and folk music. He is the first steel guitarist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
Born in Augusta in 1932, Drake didn’t start playing guitar until the age of 18, although his older brothers played from Atlanta to Nashville.
When Drake returned to Georgia from a visit with his brothers, he built his own steel guitar. Later on, he bought one for about $40 bucks from an Atlanta pawn shop.
Drake later appeared on recordings by Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Elvis Presley.
In 1988, Drake died in Nashville. He was inducted into the hall of fame in 2021.
Ray Charles (Albany)
“Widely recognized as the ‘Genius of Soul,’ Ray Charles also occupies a powerful place in country music history. He brought increased attention and respect to country music with the 1962 release of his album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. His soulful renditions of ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You,’ ‘You Don’t Know Me,’ and ‘Born to Lose’ helped those songs become standards.”
Charles, born in southwest Georgia in the 30s, was often regarded as a “genius.” He was well known for his work in soul music, but he also made his mark on the country genre.
The Charles family moved to Florida when he was five and he began to play piano. About a year later, he started going blind.
Nearly a decade later, he was professionally playing piano.
Charles moved around the U.S. during his music career, but died in Beverly Hills at 1973. He was inducted into the hall of fame about three years ago.
Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (Shellman)
“A classical violin student from age six through seventeen, Boudleaux spent the 1937-1938 season with the Atlanta Philharmonic. He made the leap to hillbilly fiddling when he joined Hank Penny’s Radio Cowboys, then performing at WSB in Atlanta. Boudleaux remained with Penny into 1940, long enough to appear on a few of Penny’s ARC records.”
Born in western Georgia in 1920, Diadorius Bryant began his music journey at a young age. He went on to work in Memphis and to tour with a jazz group.
His wife, Felice Bryant, was born in Wisconsin. Together, the Bryants were some of the first in Nashville to make a living off of songwriting.
The Bryants were inducted into the hall of fame in 1991.
Boudleaux Bryant died in in 1987. Felice Bryant later died in 2003.
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