The biggest acts snubbed by the Country Music Hall of Fame

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The biggest acts snubbed by the Country Music Hall of Fame

Amy McCarthy

Posted: August 1, 2023 | Last updated: October 21, 2023

<p>Since the Hall of Fame was created in 1961, it has inducted the genre's biggest legends throughout the decades, from Loretta Lynn and Waylon Jennings to Brooks and Dunn and George Strait. But of course, throughout the years, the Hall of Fame has failed to recognize the contributions of some true legends. Flip through the slideshow to look at the biggest acts snubbed by the Country Music Hall of Fame, ranging from Bobbie Gentry, the singer-songwriter behind Reba McEntire's smash-hit "Fancy," to Tejano legend Freddy Fender. </p>

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The biggest acts snubbed by the Country Music Hall of Fame

Since the Hall of Fame was created in 1961, it has inducted the genre's biggest legends throughout the decades, from Loretta Lynn and Waylon Jennings to Brooks and Dunn and George Strait. But of course, throughout the years, the Hall of Fame has failed to recognize the contributions of some true legends. Flip through the slideshow to look at the biggest acts snubbed by the Country Music Hall of Fame, ranging from Bobbie Gentry, the singer-songwriter behind Reba McEntire's smash-hit "Fancy," to Tejano legend Freddy Fender.

Michael Putland/Getty Images

Tanya Tucker

With a career that’s spanned nearly 50 years, it’s easy to forget that Tanya Tucker recorded her legendary hit “Delta Dawn” at the ridiculously young age of 13. In the years since, Tucker’s distinctive voice and incredible performances have made her a staple of the genre, even with her most recent release While I’m Livin, which took home the Grammy Award in 2019 for Best Country Album.

<p>It wasn't until 2022 that the Country Music Hall of Fame finally inducted one of its most iconic duos into the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the induction came just one day after Naomi Judd's untimely death. </p><p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/vid-cj9pqbr0vn9in2b6ddcd8sfgpfq6x6utp44fssrv6mc2gtybw0us'>Follow us on MSN to see more of our exclusive entertainment content.</a></p>

Paul Natkin/Getty Images

The Judds

It wasn't until 2022 that the Country Music Hall of Fame finally inducted one of its most iconic duos into the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the induction came just one day after Naomi Judd's untimely death.

GAB Archive/Redferns

Mickey Gilley

It makes absolutely no sense that Mickey Gilley, the owner of the iconic Gilley's Club immortalized in "Urban Cowboy," isn't in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Especially considering that he was a successful country artist who continued to make music until shortly before his death in 2022.

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Keith Whitley

In his too-short career, Keith Whitley charted 12 songs on the Billboard charts before his untimely death in 1989. A neo traditionalist who helped set the tone for artists like Alan Jackson and George Strait, Whitley’s classic song “When You Say Nothing At All” is Hall of Fame worthy on its own.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Shania Twain

Considering that Shania Twain remains the top-selling female artist of all time, she really should have her own place in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her songs topped the charts in the '90s, and she continues to attract an audience of dedicated fans and release new music.

Lavender Country GoFundMe

Lavender Country

A hidden part of country music’s past, Lavender Country released the genre’s first album about LGBT life in 1973. It’s since been recognized as a hallmark of the genre by academics and fans, and deserves recognition in the mainstream.

Al Pereira/Getty Images

Alison Krauss

A bluegrass prodigy who’s made her mark on country music, Alison Krauss is younger than many of the artists on this list, but no less deserving. From her cover of Keith Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing At All” to her vocals on the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Krauss is one of country music’s most definitive voices. She’s also the most-awarded artist in Grammy Awards history, with 27 trophies under her belt.

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REPORTERS ASSOCIES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Ray Charles

Known as both “The Genius” and one of the most compelling songwriters in American music history, Ray Charles’s 1962 album Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music is a defining moment in the genre.

Kevin Kane/WireImage

Wanda Jackson

The First Lady of Rockabilly, Ms. Wanda Jackson, has been recording music since the 1950s, when she came up alongside the legendary Elvis Presley. She’s responsible for bringing rockabilly influence to the mainstream with songs like “Fujiyama Mama,” and was a trailblazer for women in the genre who followed her, like Pam Tillis and Rosanne Cash.

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David Redfern/Redferns

June Carter Cash

Though she’s best known as the wife of Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash’s contributions to country music deserve to be recognized in their own right. She got her start as a member of the legendary Carter Family band before recording both as a solo artist and alongside Cash, notching hits with “Jackson,” and “It Ain’t Me Babe.”

Tim Mosenfelder/ImageDirect

Freddy Fender

A Texas native and Tejano legend, Freddy Fender’s 1975 hit “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” is arguably his most iconic track. But alongside the Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven, Fender helped bring wider attention to Tejano and Texas music to the country music mainstream.

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Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Dwight Yoakam

It’s almost ridiculous that Dwight Yoakam, an accomplished songwriter and torchbearer of the classic Bakersfield sound, isn’t in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Since his 1984 debut, Yoakam has sold more than 30 million records across the globe and notched five Billboard #1s thanks to hits like “Fast As You” and “Thousand Miles From Nowhere.”

Matt Kent/WireImage

k.d. lang

Canadian artist k.d. lang’s sound has flitted between pop and country throughout her career, recording songs with Ann Wilson and Roy Orbison while challenging the notion of what it means to be a country singer.

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Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images

Linda Ronstadt

Whether for her solo hits like “Blue Bayou” or the Trio recordings alongside Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton, there’s no denying Linda Ronstadt’s place in the history of country music.

Beth Gwinn/Redferns

Shania Twain

However you feel about Shania Twain’s pop-country dominance of the 1990s, there’s no denying that the Queen of Country Pop fundamentally changed the genre forever. Ever since her self-titled debut in 1993, Twain has earned the title of the best-selling female artist in all of country music, and continues to influence the genre today with collaborations like her recent duet with alt-country newcomer Orville Peck.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for dcp

Trisha Yearwood

One of the greatest voices of her generation, Trisha Yearwood stormed onto the scene in 1985 and country music hasn’t been the same since. She’s sold millions of records and charted dozens of hits, including the crossover smash “How Do I Live” and “She’s In Love With The Boy.”

David McNew/Newsmakers

Asleep At The Wheel

The torchbearers of Western Swing in modern music, Texas-based band Asleep At The Wheel has been a fixture of country music since the 1970s. With fans like Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and George Strait, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame.

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Kevin Winter/ACMA2013/Getty Images for ACM

Faith Hill

With 40 million records sold, Faith Hill is the definition of a crossover success. In the 1990s, she helped bring country music into the mainstream with songs like “This Kiss” and “Breathe,” both of which were massive pop and country hits. She’s got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame...why shouldn’t she be in the Country Music Hall of Fame?

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Darius Rucker

The former frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish, Darius Rucker is now a bonafide country star. It’s arguably a little early to be talking about Hall of Fame inclusion for Rucker, especially when there are so many artists from decades past that still haven’t been inducted yet, but his incredible success with songs like “Wagon Wheel” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” should not be discounted.

Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage

Crystal Gayle

The sister of Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle was a star in her own right in the 1970s, helping to cement the pop-country genre with songs like “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” However traditionalists feel about the popularity of pop-country, there’s no denying its place in the genre.

Tom Hill/Getty Images

Townes Van Zandt

It’s hard to say that Townes Van Zandt is specifically a country artist — his influence has been felt across folk, rock, and Americana — but he deserves induction alone for penning “Pancho and Lefty,” made legendary by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.

Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Bobbie Gentry

Also difficult to pin down in terms of genre, Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” is deserving of a Hall of Fame nod in and of itself, but her duets alongside Glen Campbell totally seal the deal. Oh, and of course, her 1970 song “Fancy,” which made Reba McEntire a star more than two decades after Gentry wrote it.

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