Memphis Music Hall of Fame: A guide to the inductees, ceremony, special performers & more
The Memphis Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony is an annual celebration of those who helped define the Bluff City sound in its many forms. The year’s class includes seven standout figures in Memphis music, from Stax stalwarts to jug band pioneers, hip-hop masterminds to jazz greats.
Set for Oct. 12 at Downtown’s Cannon Center at the Performing Arts, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame ceremony will include a house band led by Kirk Clayton and feature a group of Memphis all-stars providing music for the event.
Special guests paying tribute to members of the 2023 class will include rock legend Peter Frampton, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful, blues great Charlie Musselwhite, and many more.
Here is a closer look at who is being honored and how they will be celebrated.
Memphis Music Hall of Fame's history
The Memphis Music Hall of Fame — operated by the Smithsonian-branded Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum — was launched in 2012, as a way of honoring musical greats from or associated with Memphis and the Mid-South.
After enshrining 25 members in its first year, the Hall has generally inducted between six to eight new members each year. With this year’s class, the Hall will reach a total of 97 members, a roll call that features local and international music icons from B.B. King to Elvis Presley to Justin Timberlake.
Memphis Music Hall of Fame's 2023 Class
More than just big-name performers, the Hall has also sought to honor influential songwriters, session players, producers and label heads. Beyond rock, pop and R&B, the Hall has focused its efforts in acknowledging Memphis trailblazers in jazz, gospel, classical and opera — and this year’s class once again runs the gamut of Memphis music.
A member of early Stax group The Mar-Keys, musical polymath Don Nix went on to a prolific career as a songwriter, producer and arranger. His classic blues anthem, “Going Down,” has become a standard of the genre. Nix also produced albums for Freddie King, Albert King, Jeff Beck and Furry Lewis and worked with The Beatles' George Harrison on the Concert for Bangladesh.
Joining him will be Deanie Parker, the Stax songwriter, label publicist and later Soulsville Foundation president, who has carried the torch for the iconic soul label for more than 60 years.
Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum earned his nod thanks to an illustrious career as a sideman (for Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross among others) as well as his work as a solo jazz and spiritual music artist.
Memphis-born writer and producer Carlos Broady was recognized for his influential role in the rap world, including key work with The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and Kanye West, among others.
Also joining those four living inductees will be singer Jimi Jamison. Best known for his work with Survivor, Jamison also led Memphis rock bands Target and Cobra in the '70s and ‘80s. He died in 2014.
One of the key figures in early Memphis music history, Gus Cannon will be honored along with his group, Cannon’s Jug Stompers. (Cannon died in 1979). The members of the Spirit of Memphis Quartet will also be recognized for their pioneering contributions to Black gospel. The group, originally founded in 1930, continued on with different members over the decades.
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Peter Frampton, John Sebastian among special guests
As those who have attended previous Hall ceremonies can attest, the ceremonies are a moving and joyful celebration of Memphis music and musicians. As in past years, all the living honorees are expected to attend, joined by fellow inductees and other celebrated music-makers, from Memphis and beyond. (Justin Timberlake, John Prine, Snoop Dogg, Bootsy Collins, Jimmy Fallon and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones are among those who have participated in past shows.)
This year’s list of special guests is led by Grammy-winning guitarist Peter Frampton, who will be on hand to pay tribute to Nix. Frampton recorded Nix’s song “Same Old Blues” on his popular 2019 "All Blues" album. Frampton will also receive the Memphis Music Hall of Fame’s “Legacy Award.”
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and former lead singer of The Lovin’ Spoonful, John Sebastian will attend the ceremony to pay tribute to Cannon’s Jug Stompers. Beginning with their 1965 debut single, "Do You Believe in Magic," Sebastian and The Lovin’ Spoonful had seven consecutive singles reach the Top 10 of the U.S. charts. The group took their earliest influences from jug band and blues music. In 1999, Sebastian released the album “Chasing Gus’ Ghost.”
Others scheduled to attend include Grammy Award-winning blues musician, harmonicist and Memphis Music Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Musselwhite, who will also honor Nix.
Jamison will be honored by Jefferson Starship and Starship guitarist Jeff Adams and Jim Peterik, of the Ides of March and formerly of Survivor and 38 Special fame.
Wendy Moten, who finished as first runner-up on NBC’s “The Voice,” will honor Whalum, teaming up with him to perform the Whitney Houston hit “I Will Always Love You,” for which Whalum provided the original saxophone solo.
Noted rapper and producer, Drumma Boy, aka Chris Gholson, who has garnered numerous Grammy and BET Awards will return to his native Memphis to honor fellow hip hop producer, beatmaker and Hall of Fame inductee Broady.
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Tickets to the ceremony
Most of the available seats for the Memphis Music Hall of Fame induction cost $30 per ticket. A few special golden circle tickets, closer to the stage, remain available, and those run from $200-$400.
In general, seating for the event is limited so you won’t want to wait too long to purchase tickets. For more information or to buy tickets, go to Ticketmaster.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Music Hall of Fame: The 2023 inductees, ceremony, performers
