Swift Surprises, Brooks & Dunn Honored at DJ and Radio Hall of Fame Event

Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Randy Owen and Blake Shelton were among those on hand to honor radio legends Tuesday night at the annual Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame dinner and awards ceremony in Nashville. In addition to the DJs being celebrated at the event, which kicked off the annual Country Radio Seminar, Brooks & Dunn were presented the CRB Career Achievement Award.

"I love radio. I love the DJs. I love the program directors. I love the guys who own radio -- all three of them," Ronnie Dunn joked with the crowd, as B&D accepted the honor. "I love my mother for playing the radio in the car when I was a kid growing up. I love that big house that y'all bought me and I like that nice car that I drove up here in tonight. I just gotta have faith that you're not gonna quit playing us since we're splitting up."

"Our new motto is: 'We're just splittin', we're not quittin'," Kix interjected, as the crowd roared with applause.

Before Kix and Ronnie took the stage to accept the award, Dierks and some of his bluegrass pals, including Rob and Ronnie McCoury, treated the crowd to a grassy version of the Brooks & Dunn hit 'Red Dirt Road.' "As a singer/songwriter and as a fan of Country Music, I love these guys," Dierks said. "Brooks and Dunn were a big reason I moved to Nashville."

Brooks & Dunn have charted more than 50 singles since they debuted in 1991. They've sold more than 30 million albums and won 80 major industry awards.

During the evening, six new members were inducted into the DJ and Radio Hall of Fame. "I want to introduce you to one of the heroes of radio and the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame, Rudy Fernandez," Randy Owen said introducing the radio veteran from KEAN in Abilene, Texas, who was inducted along with the late Cy Blumenthal, Mike Hammond, Dan Halyburton, Laurie DeYoung, and Bill Bailey. Charlie Cook was presented with the President's Award.

Looking stunning in a short black cocktail dress, Taylor took the stage to welcome Mike Hammond from WIVK in Knoxville, Tenn., to the DJ and Radio Hall of Fame. Commenting that she had been to Kinkos earlier in the day, Taylor surprised Mike with a nearly life size poster of a photo she had taken with him during her first visit to WIVK.

"I think in life the way you look at things is largely based on your first impression. My first impression of country radio came in 2005 when I walked into WIVK in Knoxville," Taylor told the crowd. "That was the day that I met Mike Hammond for the first time and it's my memories of that day that make me so incredibly happy and honored to be the one up here inducting him into the Country Radio Hall of Fame."

In a lengthy and heartfelt speech, Taylor recounted the veteran broadcaster's career accomplishments and spoke warmly of his family, calling each member by name. She recalled her first visit to the station and how he had put a then unknown, high school sophomore on the air. "I was just floored because I wasn't expecting to get put on the radio. I didn't have a single out. I was so excited," she recalled. "And minutes later, I was on the radio, playing my song in afternoon drive. I talked about it for weeks after that and I'm still taking about it now.

"I've thought about it a lot over the years: Why Mike would put me on the air? This kid who had never been on the radio before," Taylor continued. "I think it was because Mike started in radio when he was 15 years old. Back then someone gave him a chance and so he gave one to me."

Taylor mentioned that she had recently talked to Kenny Chesney about Mike and he too had fond memories. "Kenny told me that his favorite thing about Mike Hammond is that he's 'made extraordinary things happen to an ordinary person from East Tennessee' and he wanted me to tell Mike that tonight."