Add another Hall of Fame membership to Alan Jackson's career accolades. The newly inducted Country Music Hall of Famer highlights a trio of 2018 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees with country music ties.
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Per the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Jackson ranks alongside Paul McCartney and John Lennon when it comes to performers with more than 20 self-penned chart-topping hits. Other accolades include three CMA Entertainer of the Year Awards, two Grammys and around 150 other music industry awards.
Fellow Georgian and Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson also got the nod. From 1958's "City Lights," a number-one hit for Ray Price penned when Anderson was 19-years-old, to George Strait's 2007 recording of "Give It Away," Anderson stood among the most respected songwriters in Nashville. His own interpretations of "Still" and other self-penned classics might've been enough on their own to warrant induction.
The new class also includes television and film composer and popular songwriter Steve Dorff. His country compositions include Eddie Rabbit's "Every Which Way But Loose" and George Strait's "I Cross My Heart."
Other inductees span different genres and include Jermaine Dupri, Kool & the Gang, Allee Willis and John Mellencamp. The latter stands among the 1980's rockers with the sort of storytelling acumen that informs today's guitar-slinging Americana underdogs.
The 2018 class receives its proper induction in New York City on June 14, 2018.