NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dwight Yoakam and Larry Gatlin are among the latest group of country artists to soon be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Yoakam and Gatlin, as well as Marcus Hummon, Kostas, Rivers Rutherford and Sharon Vaughn, will be formally inducted on Oct. 14 during the 49th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala, according to a statement from the Hall of Fame.
The group of six will join big-name honorees including Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, CMT reported.
"Nashville has a rich history of iconic songs and deeply gifted songwriters, making our community known around the world as THE song town," Hall of Fame board Chair Sarah Cates said. "The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates this history by inducting a new class of legends. It's our great honor today to welcome our class of 2019: Marcus Hummon, Kostas and Rivers Rutherford in the songwriter category; Sharon Vaughn in the veteran songwriter category, Dwight Yoakam as our songwriter/artist and Larry Gatlin as our veteran songwriter/artist."
Yoakam is described by Rolling Stone as one of the "neo-traditionalists who broke through in the mid-Eighties." His 1986 debut album "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc." launched him to stardom, according to the Hall of Fame website. Yoakam's top hits include "Ain't That Lonely Yet," "Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room" and "Honky Tonk Man."
"Over the years, I've been acknowledged for the recordings that I've made but, oftentimes, many of the songs I've recorded that became hits are songs I wrote or co-wrote. So thank you for acknowledging that. I look forward to seeing you in October," Yoakam said in a video message, according to Billboard.
Gatlin, on his own, wrote every chart single in both his solo career and as a member of the Gatlin Brothers, according to Rolling Stone. Some of his best-known songs include "All the Gold in California," "Broken Lady" and "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)." He's written songs that have been recorded by other artists, including Elvis Presley's "Help Me."
"This is what we do. We forge these songs in our souls. They don't just come out of our brains. They come out of here," Gatlin said, according to Billboard. "I'm grateful to be with these folks."
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