Fred Luther Foster was an American record producer, songwriter, and music business executive who founded Monument Records and Combine Music. As a record producer he was most closely associated with Roy Orbison, and was also involved in the early careers of Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Foster suggested to Kris Kristofferson the title and theme of "Me and Bobby McGee", which became a hit for Kristofferson, Roger Miller, and Janis Joplin, and for which Foster received a co-writing credit.
Martha Robinson Rivers Ingram is an American billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist. In 1995, Ingram succeeded her late husband as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ingram Industries, one of America's largest privately-held companies. She is the co-author of three books, including two biographies and a history of the performing arts in Nashville, Tennessee.
Little Anthony and the Imperials is an American rhythm and blues/soul vocal group from New York City founded by Clarence Collins in the 1950s and named in part for its lead singer, Jerome Anthony "Little Anthony" Gourdine, who was noted for his high-pitched voice. In addition to Collins and Gourdine, the original Imperials included Ernest Wright, Gloster "Nate" Rogers, and Tracy Lord, the last two of whom were subsequently replaced by Sammy Strain.
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously inducted with a video package as the sole inductee that year. The 1994 and 1995 ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring pay-per-view events and the 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event. Since 2004, the promotion has held the ceremonies in conjunction with WrestleMania ever since. Since 2005, portions of the induction ceremonies have aired on television and since 2014, the entire ceremonies have aired on the WWE Network, which was extended to Peacock in 2021 after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock that year.
Dennis Linde was an American musician and songwriter based in Nashville who has had over 250 of his songs recorded. He is best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley song, "Burning Love", an international hit that has been featured in at least five motion pictures. In 1994, Linde won BMI's "Top Writer Award" and received four awards as BMI's most-performed titles for that year. He never liked publicity, and shunned awards shows to the extent of having family members collect his awards for him. He wrote both words and music for most of his songs, rarely collaborating with co-writers. He earned 14 BMI "Million-Air" songs. In 2001, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Jack Henderson Clement was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, film producer and music executive.
Warren Thomas "Pete" Moore was an American singer-songwriter and record producer, notable as the bass singer for Motown group the Miracles from 1955 onwards, and was one of the group's original members. He is also a 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and a BMI and ASCAP award-winning songwriter, and was the vocal arranger on all of the group's hits.
Bobby Van Osborne was an American bluegrass musician. He was the co-founder of the Osborne Brothers, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Osborne was a member of the United States Marine Corps, received a Purple Heart for his service, and was honorably discharged in 1953.
Dottie Rambo was an American gospel singer and songwriter. She was a Grammy winning solo artist and multiple Dove award-winning artist. Along with ex-husband Buck and daughter Reba, she formed the award-winning southern Gospel group, The Rambos. She wrote more than 2,500 songs, including her most notable, "The Holy Hills of Heaven Call Me", "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need", "We Shall Behold Him", and "I Go To the Rock".
Robert Lee McDill is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, including The Grateful Dead, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Anne Murray, and B. J. Thomas. His music credits in film include Primary Colors, The Thing Called Love, Texasville, and the documentary Grizzly Man. In addition to four Grammy nominations McDill received Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the Nashville Songwriters Association International. In October 2012, McDill was awarded ASCAP's Golden Note Award in recognition of his "extraordinary place in American popular music." In September 2015 he received the Academy of Country Music's Poet's Award for lifetime achievement. In October 2023 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He is the author of two books: Tales of the Old River Rod and Gun, Bloody Mary Society andGentleman's Club and The Ancestors and Descendants of Robert Nathanial McDill.
James Layng Martine Jr. is an American songwriter whose compositions have appeared on the country and pop music charts over a four-decade span beginning in the late 1960s. His songs, "Way Down" and "Rub it In", have each been recorded by over 20 artists. In 2013, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Some of Martine's writing credits include Elvis Presley's million-selling "Way Down"; The Pointer Sisters' "Should I Do It" and Trisha Yearwood's "I Wanna Go Too Far".
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame is an independent organization whose mission is to educate and to celebrate, preserve, promote, and present rhythm and blues music globally.
Jo Walker-Meador was an American music executive who served as Executive Director of the Country Music Association (CMA) from 1962 to 1991. During her tenure, she created the first Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which opened near Music Row and ran from 1967 to 2000, developed the Country Music Association Awards, which first ran in 1967, and launched Fan Fair in 1972. In 1995, Walker-Meador was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
WWE Hall of Fame (2018) was the event that featured the introduction of the 19th class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by WWE on April 6, 2018, from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event took place the same weekend as WrestleMania 34. The event aired live on the WWE Network, and was hosted by Jerry Lawler. The following night, a condensed one-hour version of the ceremony aired on USA Network.
Hubert Long was an American music executive known for his promotion of country music artists from the early 1950s to his death in 1972. Long created a talent agency named for him in 1952 and one of Nashville's first independent talent agencies, Stable of Stars, three years later. A founding board member of the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Country Music Foundation (CMF), Long was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1979.
