Jeannie was born the youngest of four children in 1940 in Pennsylvania. Although her parents were not connected to the industry, she got inspiration for her future career from the two of them. Her father played banjo at local square dances and her mother sang around the house with the four kids. As a teenager, she began singing on local radio and television stations. Around the age of 21, Jeannie got tired of Pennsylvanian winters and moved to California. Getting secretary positions at record labels allowed her a foot in the door. She began writing songs. Her first song was picked up by R&B singer Irma Thomas, who turned it into a pop hit. Some more of her songs were recorded by Country Music Hall Of Fame inductees Connie Smith, Willie Nelson and Dottie West. Dottie then convinced her to move to Nashville. After some exposure on Porter Wagoner’s show, Jeannie was offered a recording contract. In 1966, she released what would be a huge hit and her eventual signature song “Don’t Touch Me”. The success of this song got her a Grammy award and an offer to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. No other songs she recorded would match that success, but she continued getting hits into the 1970’s. But the other impressive part of her country music resume is that she has continued to this day performing at the Grand Ole Opry, eventually appearing on more episodes than any other performer in the show’s history (over 5000 appearances). Maybe someday she will also add Country Music Hall Of Fame member to that wonderful resume.

Trace had interest in music since he was ten years old and got a guitar from his father, but he tried lots of jobs before trying music full-time. He was a member of a football team, he worked on an oil rig and for a time was a pharmacy technician. (Fun fact: as a pharmacy technician, he sliced off one of his fingers. Once at the hospital he had the doctors sew it back on at an angle where he could still paly his guitar). But music was always in the background, playing gigs during the nights. Finally, he made the decision to move to Nashville in 1992. After a couple years of playing gigs, he met up with a record label executive. They, in turn, brought some of their executive friends with them to one of Trace’s shows. Once Scott Hendricks from Capitol Records heard Trace singing, he signed him on the spot to a record contract. Although never turning out to be a consistent hitmaker in country music, he would continue to get top tens here and there for at least 15 years. He also got some love from the industry, earning Grammy nominations and winning trophies from the ACM awards and the CMT awards. He also gained a wider audience by being on “The Celebrity Apprentice” in two different seasons, placing 1^st and 2^nd. The chances of him making it into the Hall Of Fame at this point are very low, but he was able to build up a nice career for himself, and I’m sure he is perfectly content with that.

Some people consider working with family to be a nightmare, but it worked out well for Rascal Flatts. Second cousins Jay DeMarcus and Gary LeVox were both working together around Nashville in the late 1990’s, doing background vocals and playing in various bands. The two of them were playing in a nightclub at one point and their part-time guitarist couldn’t make it for the gig. DeMarcus then called up a guy he knew in a backing band he was playing in named Joe Don Rooney. Rooney showed up, and when the three of them played together that night, they say they felt an instant bond. The trio then recorded some demos, which they took to Lyric Street Records who found them to be incredible and signed them in 1999. From that point, they were a success; country enough for the radio charts but pop enough for a youthful audience who we’re coming to see them. For 2 decades they became one of the biggest groups in country music, collecting CMAs, ACMs, People’s Choice Awards, Grammys and highly successful tours. In 2020, the band announced that they were breaking up and going to embark on a farewell tour to close out the group. Unfortunately, the tour was cancelled because of covid and the group just split up on their own.

With a mother who owned a beauty salon and a father who was a car salesman, becoming a successful country music singer wasn’t exactly in the cards for Blake Shelton. But after learning to play the guitar in his early teens, he began writing songs and traveling around the local bar circuit around his county. As soon as he graduated high school, he moved to Nashville in an instant. Going through the same path as a lot of people on this list, he started out in the business as a song-writer, before getting his own recording contract later. Beginning with a very traditional style, he had off and on hits throughout his early years. But a few things happened in the later 2000’s: he connected up with Miranda Lambert (soon after, they became an “it couple” in Nashville), he switched to adding more pop sounds to his songs, and he gained significant national attention by becoming a coach on the singing competition “The Voice”. These things all allowed him to continue getting hits and becoming one of the biggest names in the country genre. He is still in the midst of his radio career right now, and the longer that goes on the better shot he has of entering the Hall Of Fame in the future.