Alan Jackson will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame less than one year after being enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Bill Anderson’s induction took a little longer.
During a June 14 ceremony in New York City Jackson and Anderson will join about 400 other lifetime inductees in a Hall of Fame that recognizes songwriting across all genres of music. John Mellencamp, Kool & the Gang and Jermaine Dupri will also be inducted, as well as Allee Willis, who wrote the theme from TV’s Friends among other accomplishments.
To be inducted a songwriter needs to have been writing hit songs for at least 20 years. Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson and Dolly Parton are three previous inductees from country music. Bobby Braddock and Toby Keith were the last two from the genre, both inducted in 2015.
Jackson’s singing and songwriting career has lasted more than 25 years. “I started writing because somebody told me I needed some original material,” he says. “I’d never even thought about writing or studied songwriting.”
Anderson’s songwriting career started in 1958 with “City Lights” for Ray Price. Other Whisperin’ Bill songs include “Once a Day,” I Missed Me,” “Slippin’ Away” and more recently “Whiskey’ Lullaby.”
Both men are considered amongst country music’s all time great songwriters, and both remain active. Anderson contributed a song to Brad Paisley’s most recent Love and War album and Jackson continues to release new music and record. He dropped a single called “The Older I Get” in 2017 and started the Honky Tonk Highway Tour in January.
See the Best Photos from Jackson’s Country Hall of Fame Induction
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
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