One of the most influential music executives and producers in country music history, Jerry Bradley died Monday (July 17) at age 83,
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Bradley was born in Nashville, Tenn. on Jan. 30, 1940. He was the son of legendary producer Owen Bradley and the nephew of session musician great Harold Bradley.
Following a stint in the Army, Bradley worked at his father's famed Bradley Barn Studio in Mount Juliet, Tenn. After learning the ropes there, Bradley landed a job in 1970 with RCA Nashville through family friend Chet Adkins. In 1973, Bradley replaced Adkins as the label's vice president of Nashville operations. Through his nine-year tenure, Bradley shaped everything from the promotion of outlaw country and the genre's first platinum album, 1976's Wanted! the Outlaws, to the more pop-influenced rises of Ronnie Milsap and Alabama.
"I'm not a musician. I'm not a songwriter. I think I was a pretty good businessman," Bradley told the Tennessean in 2019 "My dad told me the song was the most important thing: It cost just as much to record a bad song as it does a good one."
In addition, Bradley was the Country Music Association's (CMA) president in 1973 and played a role in the formation of Fan Fair (now billed as CMA Fest).
Bradley went on to head the Opryland Music Group, positioning him to sign Kenny Chesney and other future stars to their first publishing deals.
"[Bradley] had a profound and unmeasurable impact on my life," Chesney said (as quoted by the Tennessean) "[He also] helped change the lives of so many people that had a song in their hearts. Jerry's impact on [music's] creative community will be felt for years."
In 2019, Bradley followed his father and uncle by being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
