Female country music path blazers Jean Shepard and Reba McEntire were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night along with hit songwriter Bobby Braddock.
Those performing in tribute to the three hall of famers included George Jones, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, Bill Anderson and Elizabeth Cook.
Reba showed her respect to fellow Oklahoman Jean Shepard as a pioneer, “Jean Shepard did so much for women in country music,” McEntire said. “I’m honored to be going into the Hall of Fame with her.”
The 77-year-old Shepard grew up a sharecropper’s daughter in a home without running water or electricity. She drew inspiration from listening to the country sounds coming from Nashville’s WSM AM 650 signal.
Shepard, who was one of a very few female country artists in the 1950’s, recordings included “A Dear John Letter” (with Ferlin Husky), “A Satisfied Mind” and “Beautiful Lies” helped to overcome gender barriers in country, and on
“This is way too long in coming,” said Country Music Hall of Famer (and Rock and Roll Hall member) Brenda Lee. “She busted down the doors.”
Hall of Fame director Kyle Young called Reba McEntire “the most successful female country performer of her generation.” For more than a quarter century, she has been a chart-topper, scoring hits including “Whoever’s In New England”, “How Blue,” “Is There Life Out There” and, this year, “Turn On The Radio.” She sold more than 33 million albums in the 1980s and ’90s.
Braddock’s hits have included classics “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” as well as modern hits “People Are Crazy” and “Time Marches On.” Another well-known songwriter, Bill Anderson, introduced Braddock with these kind words, “He writes things that are so funny, and then he’ll write something that will bring a tear to your eye,” Anderson said. “He’s one of the greats.”
Source: The Tennessean
