Nashville, Tenn. – Legendary broadcast
personality Ralph Emery, whose
interviews anchor RFD-TV on Monday
nights, was inducted into the Country
Music Hall of Fame along with Vince
Gill and Mel Tillis in a three-hour,
music-filled ceremony at the Country
Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
The three inductees share
multidimensional careers that grew to
utilize different talents and to master a
variety of creative skills. Emery began as a
radio deejay and evolved into a nationally
renowned television host and best-selling
author. Gill explained how he initially
just wanted to become a guitarist, but he
grew into an internationally recognized
singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist.
Tillis originally strived to become a hit
songwriter, but he overcame personal
obstacles to emerge as a star of stage and
screen, leading his acclaimed Statesiders
band while also acting in television shows
and movies.
At the Oct. 28 event, Tammy Genovese,
chief operating officer of the CMA,
talked about what a monumental
moment this ceremony marked for
Emery, Gill and Tillis. She recalled how,
just days after they'd learned of their
induction, they gathered for photos amid
the Hall of Fame plaques hanging in the
Museum's stately Rotunda. "Walking
into that hallowed space, the impact of
what was about to happen registered on
each of their faces," Genovese said.
"Induction into the Country Music Hall
of Fame is the greatest honor bestowed
upon a country music artist."
Medallions were presented to the new
inductees by longtime friends who
preceded them into the Hall of Fame. E.
W. “Bud”Wendell, chairman of the
museum’s board of officers and trustees,
and former president and chief executive
officer of Gaylord Enterainment,
welcomed Emery, whom he had known
since their early days together at WSM
radio. Bill Anderson, a Grand Ole Opry
patriarch, inducted Gill by speaking of
how the younger star helped bring him
out of a songwriting hiatus by co-writing
with him in the mid-1990s. And Little
Jimmy Dickens stood on a box behind
the podium to place the medallion
around the neck of Tillis, who had
counted Dickens among the artists who
recorded his songs early in his career.
Those performing songs honoring the
careers of the new Hall of Fame members
included Al Anderson, Bobby Bare,
Dierks Bentley, Guy Clark, Rodney
Crowell, the Gaither Vocal Band,
Emmylou Harris, Con Hunley, Raul
Malo, Michael McDonald, Kenny
Rogers, Ray Stevens and Pam Tillis.
Backing the performers were music
director John Hobbs on piano and the
Medallion All-Star Band, featuring
drummer Eddie Bayers, steel guitarist
Paul Franklin, harmony singers Tania
Hancheroff andWes Hightower,
guitarists Brent Mason and Russ Pahl and
bassist Michael Rhodes.
Among the Country Music Hall of Fame
members present to welcome the
newcomers were Bill Anderson, Harold
Bradley, Dickens, Phil Everly of the
Everly Brothers, Jim Foglesong, Sonny
James, the Jordanaires' Gordon Stoker,
Louis Nunley, RayWalker and Curtis
Young, Charlie Louvin and JoWalker-
Meador, Museum Director Kyle Young
called Emery "the dean of country music
broadcasters," and noted that he'd been
voted country radio personality of the
century by Radio & Records magazine.
He recounted Emery's difficult
childhood, born March 10, 1933, in
McEwen, Tenn., during the Depression,
to a biological father with alcohol
problems who would disappear for years
at a time. Emery's parents divorced when
he was four years old, and he went to live
with his grandparents. He eventually
reunited with his mother but struggled
with an abusive stepfather until his
mother divorced a second time.
As Emery grew into an adult, he
found solace and support in listening
to the radio. Out of broadcasting
school, he worked his way through
the ranks until, at age 24, he began to
work the graveyard shift at radio station
WSM, and he became country music's
most famous all-night deejay, staying on
the all-night job until 1972. In 1963, he
hosted his first TV show, Opry Almanac,
and he worked in several local and
national shows until taking his seat in
1983 as host of The Nashville Network's
flagship show, Nashville Now.
In 1991, he wrote his first book,
Memories: The Autobiography of
Ralph Emery, which spent 25 weeks
on the New York Times bestseller
list. Three more popular nonfiction
books followed, all
reflecting on his life in country
music and his intimate
knowledge of country stars. In
2007, he returned to TV as
host of Ralph Emery LIVE on
RFD-TV.
To pay musical tribute to
Emery, Raul Malo sang "You
Gave Me a Mountain," a favorite of Emery's written
and originally recorded by his close friend Marty
Robbins. The Gaither Vocal Band sang the gospel hit
"Yes I Know," while soulful country singer Con
Hunley, who appeared on the first and last Nashville
Now programs, presented a dynamic version of
"Since I Fell for You." Ray Stevens, whom Emery has
called "a creative genius," performed his famous hit
"Everything Is Beautiful."
In his formal induction of Emery,Wendell said he
represented all the employees of WSM, the Nashville
Network, Gaylord, and the Grand Ole Opry in
giving Emery "an honor long deserved" by inducting
him into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Emery, in accepting the award, thanked his wife, Joy,
for their 40 years of marriage. "Joy's been a tower of
strength, compassion, love and support of my many
endeavors, and without her I would not have
succeeded," he said. "I dearly love you, and I
appreciate all you have done for me." He also read a
spiritual poem of gratitude written by the late
Country Music Hall of Fame member Tennessee
Ernie Ford, which he said was appropriate for the
moment.
The evening ended with the honorees, performers
and members of the Country Music Hall of Fame
standing on stage singing "Will the Circle Be
Unbroken?" Afterward, while embracing and
reminiscing over drinks and coffee in the Museum's
Curb Conservatory, word spread that a member of
the Hall of Fame family, PorterWagoner, had passed
away while the ceremony took place. Amid
condolences, the attendees spoke of the strong bonds
among the country music community, and the
importance of coming together to celebrate and
honor those who forged paths and furthered the
music over the years.
