2014 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
The 2014 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. This year's three honorees were revealed at a press conference in Nashville Tuesday morning (April 22).
Songwriter Hank Cochran, bluegrass legend Mac Wiseman and country superstar Ronnie Milsap are this year's picks for the Hall of Fame.
Kix Brooks served as the emcee at the event, bringing 2013 inductee Bobby Bare onstage to announce Cochran's posthumous induction.
"He could break your heart with a set of lyrics," Bare recalled of Cochran, whose hits included Patsy Cline's 'I Fall to Pieces' and 'She's Got You,' Eddy Arnold's 'Make the World Go Away' and George Strait's 'The Chair' and 'Ocean Front Property,' among many others.
Cochran passed away in 2010 after a battle with cancer.
Mac Wiseman was on hand at the press conference Tuesday. The bluegrass legend was wheeled up to the podium in a wheelchair, acknowledging that he has been fighting post-polio syndrome. He gave an emotional thanks to the assembled industry crowd for the honor.
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to go in the same year as Hank Cochran,” he said. “I’m at a loss for words to tell you how important this is to me.”
Rising star Hunter Hayes took the stage to announce Milsap's induction, saying he was "incredibly honored to be here ... I happen to be a massive fan, I think everybody knows this." He called Milsap an "unbelievable hero of mine," adding that his music had changed his life.
Milsap -- whose long string of hits includes 'Smoky Mountain Rain,' 'Any Day Now,' 'Stranger in My House' and 'It Was Almost Like a Song' -- exclaimed, "Let the celebration begin!" as he took the podium. The 71-year-old singer added, “I’ve wanted to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame for as long as I can remember."
Cochran, Wiseman and Milsap will be formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame at a private, invitation-only Medallion Ceremony later in 2014 in Nashville.