Inductees Fun Facts
Did you know...
- Conway Twitty’s real name was Harold Jenkins.
- Shortly after moving to Nashville in 1965, Kris Kristofferson worked as a janitor at Columbia studio while Bob Dylan was recording Blonde on Blonde.
- Charley Pride was a professional baseball pitcher in the Negro American League and later tried out for the California Angels.
- Webb Pierce had more #1 hits than any country singer in the 1950s.
- The only father and son Hall of Fame members are Fred and Wesley Rose.
- Hank Williams gave Little Jimmy Dickens his nickname, “Tater.”
- Tex Ritter took his first name from his native state, Texas.
- Tammy Wynette worked as a beautician before moving to Nashville in 1966, and she kept her license current just in case her records stopped selling.
- Felice and Boudleaux Bryant had 1,500 songs recorded by more than 400 artists, amounting to sales of over 250 million records.
- First-year inductee, Jimmie Rodgers, is known as “The Father of Country Music.”
- Roy Rogers is the only person inducted two times into the Hall of Fame. The first was with the Original Sons of the Pioneers, the second was as a solo artist.
- Jim Foglesong helped greats like Garth Brooks, John Conlee, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, George Strait, and Don Williams advance their careers.
- Don Gibson wrote the classics “Oh Lonesome Me” and “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” on the same day.
- Jimmie Davis was not only a country singer but also the governor of Louisiana.
- California native, Merle Haggard, is known as “The Poet of the Common Man."
- Grandpa Jones was called “Grandpa” at the ripe old age of 22.
- Harlan Howard was known as “The Dean of Nashville Songwriters.” He had over 1,000 songs recorded during his career, among them “I Fall to Pieces.”
- Brenda Lee is known as “Little Miss Dynamite.”
- Ray Price is known as “The Cherokee Cowboy.”
- George Jones recorded rockabilly material for Starday Records in the 1950s under the name “Thumper Jones.”