AJ Celebrates An Amazing Quarter Century Of Success

Alan Jackson and his family, as well as members of his road band and many of his co-writers were on hand as the superstar’s exhibit, 25 Years of Keepin’ It Country, was unveiled. Included in the exhibit are the guitar he played on the CMA Awards when he debuted “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” just two months after the September 11th terrorist attacks and the nation’s response that inspired the song; the front of an old, red Ford pickup truck that served as Jackson’s first Fan Fair booth, before his sister and brother-in-law had it made into a desk; The water ski Jackson rode, while wearing his trademark white cowboy hat, in the “Chattahoochee” music video; a collection of belt buckles from the Houston Rodeo -- which Jackson has played more than 20 times. Alan’s “first love,” a used 1955 Ford Thunderbird, will be on display in the conservatory of the Hall of Fame.

“It’s just hard to believe that I’m included in this great building with so many legends of great American music and to be a part of it is just unreal, this whole thing’s unreal,” says Alan. “We’re glad to share it and I hope that all of my fans especially will enjoy seeing what they helped build.”

Alan Jackson: 25 Years of Keepin' It Country opens to the public on Friday (August 29th).
A little tidbit -- the reason the exhibit is called Keepin' It Country -- other than the obvious -- is that with every correspondence the legendary George Jones would send to Alan, he'd sign it 'Keep It Country.'

Alan will also take the stage in the museum's new 800-seat CMA Theater as its 2014 Artist-in-Residence on October 8th and 22nd.
Both Wednesday night concerts start at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale at Noon on Monday, September 8th.

Alan Jackson Moves In (To The Country Music Hall Of Fame)

More info at (click).

Coming Soon To The Country Music Hall Of Fame

Click here for more info.

Keith Urban Organizes Another "All For The Hall" Success

A tidy sum of $600,000 was raised last night for the Country Music Hall of Fame, thanks to the efforts of Urban and a star-studded who's-who of volunteers.

As always, Keith and Vince Gill hosted a memorable evening filled with country stars. “We never know what we’re going to do,” Urban said at the outset, emphasizing the improvisational nature of the evening. “We never have on any of the past years, and we’ve always had the best time.”
Urban has put together all five We’re All for the Hall concerts in Nashville, hand-picking and personally inviting each artist who appears. The guests who answered his call this year, all volunteering their time, ranged from Country Music Hall of Fame members Gill, Reba McEntire and soon-to-be-inducted Ronnie Milsap to veterans Mary Chapin Carpenter, Deana Carter and Lee Ann Womack to several of today’s hottest stars, including Brantley Gilbert, Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood.

“Five years ago, I was sitting up there,” said newcomer Brett Eldredge, as he pointed toward a section of raised seats to the right of the stage, where he saw the first We’re All for the Hall concert in 2009. “I was thinking how cool it would be to play this show someday. And here I am.”
The evening’s theme encouraged performers and songwriters to talk about the inspiration behind the songs. The motivation for the hits included heartbreak, headaches, lost love, first dates, cars, breaking the law, spiritual conflict, TV shows, forgetting a potential paramour’s last name, pigs who swim and, more than once, Dolly Parton.

Watch The 2014 Country Music Hall Of Fame Inductees Today

CMA created the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 to recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to the format with Country Music’s highest honor. Inductees are chosen by CMA’s Hall of Fame Panels of Electors, which consist of anonymous voters appointed by the CMA Board of Directors.

Members are inducted during a special Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the CMA Theater. During the Medallion Ceremony, friends and colleagues pay tribute to each inductee through words and song. Each inductees’ bronze plaque is unveiled that will be on display in the Museum’s rotunda.

Streaming Live: April 22, 2014 at 10:00 AM/CT from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Rotunda

Inductees will be announced in the (1) Modern Area category, (2) Veteran Era category and the category that rotates between Non-Performer, Recording and/or Touring Musician, and this year’s category, (3) Songwriter. To be eligible for the Modern Era Category, the inductee must have received national prominence more than 20 years ago. To be eligible for the Veteran Era Category, the inductee must have received national prominence more than 45 years ago.

Country Music Hall Of Fame More Than Doubles In Size

Join the Museum staff, government officials, and cherished artist-friends on Tuesday, April 15 for the Expansion Grand Opening festivities!

PLAN YOUR MUSEUM VISIT!  NEW GALLERY SPACES NOW OPEN!

January Happenings At The Country Music Hall Of Fame

 

Ernie Ashworth: Trembling Lips Spotlight Exhibit Opens January 9:  A #1 hit for Ernie Ashworth in 1963, “Talk Back Trembling Lips” became his signature song and a country music standard. Enjoy some of his personal items in this new spotlight exhibit!  (click for more)

Richie McDonald Lights Country Music Hall Of Fame Christmas Tree

The Hall kicked-off this year's Deck the Hall season in style Friday night.

Lead singer of Lonestar, Richie McDonald put visiters in the Holiday spirit with a concert, tree lighting, and autograph signing.

The event was live from the Museum Store, Presented by CMT


Following the concert, McDonald signed copies of his CD If Every Day Could Be Christmas, purchased from the Museum.

Bobby Bare, Cowboy Jack Clement, and Kenny Rogers Honored Today

The Country Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony may be closed to the public but you'll be able to follow the red carpet arrivals of the stars by tracking the Museum on Facebook and Twitter, beginning with our red carpet festivities at 3:00 p.m. CST. 

You never know who will be on hand to celebrate the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 – Bobby Bare, Cowboy Jack Clement, and Kenny Rogers.

Let us know what you think throughout the evening and don't forget to use the hashtag #Medallion on Facebook and Twitter. Also, be sure to visit CountryMusicHallofFame.org on Monday for an in-depth look back at this special evening, including photos, video, and more!

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Join A&O&B For The Medallion Red Carpet Fan Experience!

It's not too late to join us outside the Museum today, October 27 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. CST as some of the biggest stars in country music walk the red carpet! As a reminder, the Museum will close at 3:00 p.m. today to prepare for this special evening.

The Taylor Swift Education Center Opens At The Country Music Hall of Fame

The state-of-the-art Taylor Swift Education Center opened this weekend at the Country Music Hall of Fame, thanks in part to an incredibly generous $4 million donation Taylor made to the Hall of Fame last year to fund the project.  Taylor says, “I really love that the fans have put me in a position where I feel like I can give back more.  They’ve put me in a position to do that and raise awareness for things that need attention: write a song for this or show up for that or donate money for this.”

She’s especially proud of the new Education Center because she says, “That’s a place where so many people from out of town come to visit Nashville, that’s one of the first places they go.  I want it to be beautiful and I want it to be really cool for kids to get to take field trips there and go visit.”  Taylor didn’t know about the Country Music Hall of Fame when she was growing up.  She says, “I learned all about country music through what I saw on TV and the research that I did, I didn’t really know that there was a museum you could go to see all these different outfits from all these legends.  I didn’t know that you could go to a place and see it all in person.  It’s gonna be amazing, I think, for kids to get to have a place where they can go and just learn as much as they possibly can.”

The Taylor Swift Education Center is housed on two floors in the museum and features three classrooms, a learning lab and a children’s exhibit gallery.  Plus Taylor has hinted that she would like to be involved in some of the future programs that will be offered at the center, so you never know when she may stop by.

Craig Campbell Performs At The Country Music Hall of Fame

The event is this Friday, August 9 - 6:00P.M.-9:00P.M.

Since his discovery playing honky-tonks on Nashville’s Lower Broadway, Campbell has earned a reputation for his straightforward, neo-traditionalist country sound with singles “Family Man” and “Fish.”  

He has won songwriting awards from SESAC, been nominated for two American Country Awards, and made national TV appearances on Fox & Friends and Marie.

CraigCampbell.tv

Reba: All the Women I Am

The inimitable Reba will participate in a special interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum on Saturday, August 10.

The August 10 program, which will take place in the museum's Ford Theater at 2:30 p.m., will feature Reba sharing highlights of her life and career; it will also include archival video and photographs.  The interview is included with museum admission and free for museum members; seating is limited and a program pass is required. 

It will also be streamed live at www.countrymusichalloffame.org. 

Other exhibit opening weekend programs include a Reba-themed Songwriter Session on August 10 and a film screening on August 11.  A detailed schedule of grand opening activities is below.
    
The exhibit will also be accompanied by a beautiful 104-page companion book, also titled Reba: All the Women I Am.  Published by the museum's Country Music Foundation Press, the image-rich volume expands on the exhibit story; it includes a foreword by Reba and dozens of photos (many previously unpublished).  The book will be available in the Museum Store.
    
"Reba is the most successful female country performer of her generation, and a major influence on many of the female recording artists who have followed her," said Museum Director Kyle Young.  "Her achievements and accolades are almost too numerous to mention:  She has sold more than 50 million records, charted nearly 60 Top Ten singles and 24 #1 hits*, and been honored with nearly 50 major awards, including two Grammy awards, the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award and the Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year award.  And, of course, she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
    
"It's impossible to overstate Reba's impact on country music, and her contributions go well beyond recording," Young continued.  "She heightened production values for country concerts, adding elaborate stages, video screens and multiple costume changes.  Such innovations are now de rigueur on the tours of top country artists.  Furthermore, through her work on Broadway, in film, and as the star of two television comedies, Reba has helped to heighten and expand the profile of country music, lifting all boats in her magnificent wake.  We are looking forward to telling the rich, inspiring and always entertaining story of one of country music's brightest lights."

Kellie Pickler: Dancing Star Spotlight CMHOF Exhibit Opens Today

Kellie Pickler and dance partner Derek Hough won season sixteen of ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars.

Relive their triumph through this new spotlight exhibit, featuring Pickler's costume and trophy, starting today at The Country Music Hall Of Fame.

Then, next week, explore the intricate costumes and accessories featured in the new Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour Exhibition, and learn about the designers who created stage wear for Underwood and for other artists who have clothing displayed in the Museum. Participants in this hands-on workshop will design their own paper guitar, paper microphone, or handkerchief using fabric swatches, rhinestones, glitter, sequins, ribbons, and fringe. Ages 5 to 15. Free. Presented in support of Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour Exhibition.

Families are encouraged to tour the Museum at a discounted rate following the program. Visit the Box Office for more information.

Carrie's "Blown Away Tour" Becomes History

The Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum will explore superstar Carrie Underwood's critically acclaimed world tour with the exhibition Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour, which opens on June 5, 2013, and runs through November 10, 2013.  The exhibit will feature original costumes, custom accessories, set pieces, a tribute to Carrie's fans and much more.
    

"Carrie Underwood's dynamic 'Blown Away Tour'-starring her peerless powerhouse vocals and featuring amazing special effects including a tornado- has been entertaining music fans around the globe," said Museum Director Kyle Young.  "It's easy to see why she was Pollstar's 2012 top female country touring artist.  Touring has always been a key element connecting music artists with their fans; those interactions help forge and strengthen the artist-fan relationship, and this exhibit speaks to that.  We are delighted to be able to show our visitors key elements from Carrie's show; whether re-living their favorite memories of the tour, or experiencing it for the first time via our exhibition, fans will enjoy this 'up close and personal' look at a world-class, superstar level music tour."

    
The Blown Away Tour exhibition will recreate nearly a dozen vignettes from the tour and include the following artifacts:

• One-of-a-kind gowns, embellished separates and other stage wear created by Emmy Award-winning costume designer Marina Toybina including a wide array of coordinating shoes, jewelry and accessories

• Colorful customized microphones made for and used by Carrie throughout each show

• Select band members' costumes and instruments

• Items from Carrie's backstage "meet-and-greet" area, including a selection of gifts and signs presented to Carrie by fans during the tour

The six-time Grammy winner's 2012-13 "Blown Away Tour" will play 112 dates by the time it wraps on May 23, with Carrie having performed for fans in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Northern Ireland and Australia.

$ Two Million For The Hall

Last week's Keith Urban-hosted All 4 The Hall 2013 benefit concert netted nearly $650,000, according to figures released by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The 2013 number brings the four-year total to more than $2 million.

Museum Director Kyle Young called this year's show at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, "The biggest and best ever."

Approximately 14,000 fans attended, with proceeds going toward care of the CMHoF's rare and unduplicated collection, its vigorous schedule of school and public programs, and enhancements for its core exhibition.

Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour

The Country Music Hall Of Fame will explore superstar Carrie’s record-breaking world tour with an exhibition which opens on June 5, 2013, and runs through November 10, 2013.

It will include costumes, instruments, microphones, set pieces, and more from the six-time Grammy winner’s acclaimed 2012-13 “Blown Away Tour.”

Underwood's current release, Blown Away, made history last year when it debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart, making the Oklahoma native only the second country artist in the 47-year history of the chart to have each of their first four albums debut at #1.

Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum February Events

CMHOF will be closed to the public through Wednesday, February 6, 2013, to make needed improvements and accommodate expansion-related construction.

The museum will reopen on Thursday, February 7, 2013, with a very busy month of activites after the reopening (click to read about all of them).

"We've had more than four million visitors since we moved downtown in May 2001," said Museum Director Kyle Young.  "We are usually closed on Tuesdays in January and February for routine maintenance, upgrades, etc.  

This winter, because of expansion-related construction, our efforts will be more substantial and will require a few more days.  The end result will be an enhanced experience for our visitors."

CMHOF Fetes Garth Brooks, Pig Robbins, and Connie Smith

Join The Country Music Hall of Fame as Garth and Connie as the newest inductees.

Don't miss the red carpet arrivals of dozens of stars, including the 2012 inductees!  The festivities take place in Nashville on Demonbreun Street in front of the Museum at the corner of 5^th Avenue South. Arrive early, as space will be limited! The Red Carpet Fan Experience is free and open to the public. To prepare for the induction ceremony later that evening, the Museum will be closing at 2:30 p.m. that day.

Join A&O for your chance to win a VIP Red Carpet Upgrade! (click for more info)

One lucky fan (and a guest) will be selected from those in attendance that afternoon outside the Museum to stand alongside the red carpet for an up-close and personal glimpse of the stars as they arrive!

This prize does not include access to the Medallion induction ceremony that evening. The Medallion induction ceremony is a private event and is closed to the public.

Revisit the 2011 Medallion Ceremony

Kenny Rogers 2012 CMHOF Artist In Residence

Intimate Ford Theater Performances on May 9 and 10 Will Mark the 10th Anniversary of the Museum’s Annual Residency Program. Rogers will bring his signature soulful voice, his catalog of hits and the stories behind the music when he presents two intimate evening performances on May 9 and 10 at 7:00 p.m.

Established in 2003, the museum’s residency program annually honors a musical master who can be credited with contributing a large and significant body of work to the canon of American popular music. Honorees are given a blank canvas—the museum’s acoustically pristine, 213-seat Ford Theater—and are encouraged to lend their own creative brushstrokes to an up-close-and-personal musical experience. Previous honorees include Cowboy Jack Clement, Earl Scruggs, Tom T. Hall, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Douglas, Vince Gill, Buddy Miller and Connie Smith.

“Kenny Rogers is the consummate entertainer,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “As a member of a band or duo or as a solo artist, he has conquered the jazz, folk, pop and country worlds—not to mention his success as an actor and photographer. Kenny has the gift of telling stories and making you believe he lived them. We are thrilled that he will help us celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Artist-in-Residence program by bringing his stories and songs to the Ford Theater for two unique shows.”

Known for instantly identifiable, sweetly raspy vocals and an ability to vividly inhabit each song he performs, Kenny Rogers has sold more than 120 million records worldwide and recorded more than 65 albums during his storied career. He has charted a record in each of the last seven decades, including 12 #1 albums.

Win A Trip To Music City To Experience The Bakersfield Sound!

See the new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California Country. Narrated by Dwight Yoakam, this exhibition explores the roots of the Bakersfield Sound and its enduring impact on country music today. Central to the exhibition are the lives of Country Music Hall of Fame members Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, two of the biggest hit makers in music history. The electrified, loud and stripped-down sound of the Bakersfield scene has influenced artists of all types, giving rise to both the California country and country rock landscapes that evolved.

And top it all off with tickets to see Merle Haggard perform at the historic Ryman Auditorium!

Click here to enter to win a Bakersfield experience in Music City.