Tim McGraw ProfileIt seems like there’s something wrong with the music industry by typing this, but Tim McGraw has only just been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
This year’s inductees, McGraw, Paul Overstreet and The Stanley Brothers, became the 159th, 160th and 161st members of the prestigious hall during a ceremony on Sunday night (18 October) at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theatre.
McGraw entered the hall in the Modern Era Artist category and received the entrant’s Medallion from Country Music Hall of Fame member Randy Owen. Paul Overstreet was inducted into the Songwriter category, and The Stanley Brothers joined the popular pair in the Veterans Era Artist category, with Tanya Tucker presenting a Medallion to the former, and Vince Gill to the latter.
Performers who paid tribute to this year’s inductees included Billy Strings, Blake Shelton, Vince Gill, Parker McCollum, Lady A, Lainey Wilson, and more. A recap of the star-studded event can be found here.
In his acceptance speech, McGraw recalled arriving in Nashville, telling the audience, “All I had was a suitcase and a guitar that I was still figuring out how to play - and I’ve only gotten marginally better at that.”
While he showcased his sense of humour, he soon started wearing his heart on his sleeve. He continued, “That morning, the news came that Keith Whitley was gone. Now, some people might call that a bad omen; I’ve come to believe it’s something else.
“I think Nashville was telling me the truth on my very first day that this music costs something—the people who make it give everything that they’ve got.
“And if you’re lucky enough to make it down the road, you owe it to the ones who didn’t, and the ones who paved it.”
The Stanley Brothers, comprising Carter and Ralph, started releasing music in the 1940s and continued to pioneer the genre. They were posthumously inducted, 60 years after Carter’s passing and 10 years after Ralph’s.
