Roll out the red carpet; the king is here. Or according to Time magazine in the 1970’s, Gary Stewart is the “king of honkytonk”. As a teen, Gary was already writing songs, touring with bands and knew how to play the piano and guitar. While playing a show in Florida, Gary ran into (2007 Hall Of Fame inductee) Mel Tillis. Mel told him to take his songs to Nashville. While in Nashville, he signed with a couple small record labels. He got success with his songwriting for other artists, but couldn’t catch a break with his own solo career. That is until a handful of his demo tapes made their way over to RCA Records. After signing there, his first single flopped. But his second single became a top ten hit, allowing him to release a full album. That album “Out Of Hand”, has since been described as a masterpiece of honky-tonk music and one of the greatest country albums of the 1970’s. Unfortunately, his hits soon dried up after that album, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to record great material and gain millions of fans (including getting a very famous fan: Bob Dylan).

In 1992, five men all got jobs at the same place: Opryland U.S.A., a Nashville theme park. Since all five were from Texas but met at their job in Tennessee, they called their group Texassee. Soon after, they changed their name to Lonestar. A couple years later, they were signed to the BNA record label. They already had their first EP out by January of 1995. Their debut single “Tequila Talkin” was released that August and became a top ten hit. From there they were able to achieve success at country radio for over a decade. In 1998, band member John Rich was fired (and a few years became have of the successful duo Big & Rich) and band member Richie McDonald was given the full-time role of lead singer. In 1999, they released their smash success song “Amazed”, which topped both the country and pop charts and broke long-standing records left and right. By the mid-2000’s the band’s radio run dried up, but along the way they collected numerous hits, awards from Grammys and CMAs, and they still tour to this day. Maybe someday down the line, they might find themselves in the Hall Of Fame.

Does this one really need an introduction? Born in 1989, being named after James Taylor certainly began her on a music journey early in life. After watching a documentary about another artist on this list (Faith Hill), that inspired Taylor to pursue a career in country music. At 11, her and her mother travelled to Nashville. Not finding what she was looking for with that trip, she focused on her songwriting. Beginning work with regular Music Row songwriters, she eventually got a record label deal in 2005. Releasing her debut single in 2006, it was like her career was shot out of a rocket and hasn’t stopped since. She continued to get hits on country radio until 2013, when she herself made the decision to transition her music in a more pop direction. That essentially ended her time in the country music industry and stopped her country radio career, but she continued on to becoming the biggest superstar on the planet and still retains the respect of the Nashville community. She has basically won every accolade you can as an artist. There will be a very good chance she gets in the Hall of Fame down the line somewhere, but it’s a matter of does her switch to pop hold her back or does becoming the biggest artist in the world move her forward in odds?

Born in New Zealand in 1967, it was obvious he had an aptitude for music at a young age. Having learned multiple instruments before the age of 7, he was performing on Australian TV talent shows as a preteen. Moving to Nashville in 1992, he slowly built up a strong resume singing back-up, writing songs and playing guitar for artists like Charlie Daniels (2016 inductee), Toby Keith (2024 inductee), Garth Brooks (2012 inductee) and rock band INXS. He attempted to make it big in a band called “The Ranch”, but it didn’t work out. Once he was signed as a solo act, then success was just around the corner. Since then, he got a radio career that has lasted over 20 years, been a judge on various reality shows, and won various awards from the ACMs, Grammys, Golden Globe and CMAs (including 2 wins for Entertainer Of The Year). Creating a lovely family with wife Nicole Kidman and 2 daughters, an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame would just be a cherry on top.