32. T.G. Sheppard

When William Browder was born in Humboldt, Tennessee in 1944, he and his parents probably never expected him to turn into a very successful country singer going by the name of T. G. Sheppard. At the age of 15, William dropped out of high school and ran away from home to join the music industry in Memphis. He signed with a record label in the mid-1960’s, but none of those singles became hits so that was over fast. He worked lots of behind-the-scenes jobs in the industry around this time. While working as an executive at RCA Records, he signed a new recording contract with a small label named Melodyland. He did not want to jeopardize his job at RCA while signing with a competing label, so he made the decision to choose a stage name for himself. He ended up deciding on T. G. Sheppard. It was at this small label where his career as a country music hitmaker began. Getting a number one with his very first song was a good sign, and he ended up continuing to get hit songs for a full 15 years. His radio dominance came to an end when the “Class Of ‘89” came in a started the next generation of country singers. His chances of getting inducted anytime soon are very slim, but T. G. has a great catalog of songs. It would be nice to see him in the Hall, but probably not happening right now.