The Musicians Hall of Fame would like to send our sincere condolences to the family of Ben Keith. Ben passed away at the age of 73.

His first session in Nashville as a steel guitarist was on Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces” and he has been a long time steel guitarist for Neil Young. Ben played on Neil Young’s hits such as “Old Man” and ” Heart of Gold”.

Also, Ben produced one of the largest selling albums of all time, Jewel’s debut album Pieces of You.

Check our website for upcoming video clips of an interview Ben did at The Musicians Hall of Fame in 2005.

*Bob Babbitt is currently in the studio and on tour with Phil Collins.

*Along with being in the studio with Kenny Chesney, Jim Horn has also been in the studio recently working with Sting.

*Ricky Skaggs will soon release a new album co- produced with Gordon Kennedy who won a Grammy for his co-production work on Peter Framptons 2008 instrumental album “Fingerprints”.

Literally, hours before we began vacating the museum premises to comply with Judge Barbara Haynes court order which gave the city of Nashville the rights to take over possession of The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum property, Founder and Curator Joe Chambers along with staff videographer Jay McDowell did one last impromptu filmed tour of current items on display in the museum.

Each week we will be adding new clips of exhibits that were in the museum so for the next few months check our website weekly to view new segments of The Last Tour.

We hope you all enjoy!

The Musicians Hall of Fame would like to congratulate Billy Sherrill on his induction into The Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 23, 2010. Billy was honored along with the legendary country music singer Ferlin Husky at the medallion ceremony held at The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.  Billy’s contributions to the history of country music through his abilities as a musician, songwriter and producer are unparalleled.

Voted BMI’s Songwriter of the Century in 2000, Billy’s musical career started as a piano player at tent revivals working for his Father who was a Baptist minister.  He also played saxophone in a Rock & Roll band touring the Southeast named “The Fairlanes”.

Billy moved from Florence, Al to Nashville after receiving his first royalty check as a songwriter.  This led to him working for the new Sun Records office located in Nashville.  Sun records founder Sam Phillips hired Billy as a engineer and allowed him to utilize the studio after hours to record his own songs.  Billy had a regional hit entitled “Tipsy” which he wrote and played every instrument on the recording.  After seeing Billy at work in the studio, the Internationally known publisher, Al Gallico, helped land him the job as the top executive at the newly opened Columbia-Epic Records located on Music Row.  It was there he became known as the producer with the “Midas Touch “.  Billy’s lush productions such as “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” by Charlie Rich to the working man’s anthem “Take This Job and Shove it” by Johnny Paycheck opened doors for country music all over the world.

Billy as a producer is responsible for what were voted the top two country songs of all time “Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones.

In 2008, Billy was inducted in the Producer category into The Musicians Hall of Fame.

First and foremost, the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum would like to extend our sincerest concern and condolences for the loss of life and property experienced by so many of our fellow Tennesseans from the recent floods.  Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by this tragic event.

Although there is no way to compare our loss to what others are experiencing, we would like to inform those interested about our current situation.

As a result of the city’s decision to have us vacate the museum property in February 2010, through eminent domain, the museum was forced by Third Circuit Court Judge Barbara Haynes to remove everything including all exhibits with 7 days notice prior to the building being torn down.  Many of our artifacts were temporarily stored in the longtime revered performance and storage space of SoundCheck in Nashville.  Unfortunately, SoundCheck was yet another casualty of the floods and in turn so many treasured musical pieces including ours were affected.

Thank you to all of those who have emailed and called asking how they can assist.  If anyone wishes to make financial contributions to The Musicians Hall of Fame to assist in instrument restoration and flood recovery please make checks to The Musicians Hall of Fame P.O. Box 23655, Nashville, TN 37202.

The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum has remained in continued dialogue, when requested, with city representatives, about seeking an amicable solution to finding a new home for the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, but to no avail at this point in time.

Check out our website for a filmed tour of The Musicians Hall of Fame Museum just prior to demolition.

The Musicians Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Awards Show has been pushed back to Spring 2011 due to our current situation concerning our relocation with the city of Nashville compounded with the additional uncertainty of our flood-damaged artifacts.

The MHOF Awards Show has become a wonderful tradition and spectacular opportunity to honor those musicians who have made the music that plays as the soundtrack of our lives.  Today’s musicians are in the studios creating and carrying on the tradition that future generations will also revere and look back on as the soundtrack to this chapter in our cities history, with the knowledge that we will rise again and continue to move forward with the spirit that makes Nashville a special place to be.

Record label executive and philanthropist, Mike Curb, has provided office space for the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, due to the temporary museum closure by eminent domain.

The Musicians Hall of Fame is conducting day to day operations in our new offices that are located in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Business building at 34 Music Square East (formally CBS Records Nashville building. Home of CBS Studio A and the famous CBS Studio B better known as the Quonset Hut which was the first studio built on Music Row.)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike Curb and Don Cusic for their generosity and support as well as all of those who have provided their support during this time of change.  We encourage you to keep in touch with us as we begin planning one of the most spectacular music shows you’ll ever see for Spring 2011!

For more information, please read the Tennessean article by Peter Cooper by clicking HERE

Record label executive and philanthropist, Mike Curb, has recently provided office space for the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, due to temporary museum closure by eminent domain.  The Musicians Hall of Fame will conduct day to day operations as well as prepare for the 4th Annual Musicians Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony from our Music Row offices.  The new offices are located in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Business building at 34 Music Square East (formally CBS Records Nashville building. Home of CBS Studio A and the famous CBS Studio B better known as the Quonset Hut which was the first studio built on Music Row.)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike Curb and Don Cusic for their generosity and support.

The Musicians Hall of Fame is happy to announce that we have acquired the late Drake Levin’s cherry red 1960’s epiphone sheraton.  Drake used this guitar both live and in the studio as lead guitarist and founding member of Paul Revere & the Raiders.  The MHOF has also acquired Drakes backup epiphone sheraton, Revolutionary War styled stage jacket, three point hat and original gold albums.

Update May 24, 2010:  Unfortunately, Drake Levin’s two cherry red epiphone sheratons that were recently acquired along with the Gretsh Chet Atkins Country Gentleman belonging to blues legend Robert Lockwood Jr. were  damaged by the flood waters while stored at Soundcheck.  Thankfully, Drake’s Paul Revere & the Raiders Revolutionary war styled stage jacket from the 60’s along with his three point hat were stored in another location.  His three original gold albums by PRR were also spared.

(If you were one of our regular guests at the museum and had not seen these items, it is because these artifacts had not been placed on display yet.)

The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum is now closed.

Our current location will be demolished to make way for the new Music City Convention Center.

We would like to thank the thousands of well-wishers that visited the museum over the past few days for supporting us during this time.  Unfortunately, we do not know where or when we will be reopening, but please continue to check our website for updates as we will post information as things progress.

For those who were unable to visit the museum, we will be adding a filmed personal guided tour by Founder and Curator Joe Chambers to our website in the coming weeks.

We have had several people ask us if the museum will remain in Nashville.  To answer that question, Nashville is where the museum started and where we would like it to stay, but we are exploring all possibilities at this time.

Also, for those wondering about the 2010 Induction Ceremony, we will be holding the show this coming October so please check our website as we will update it daily with new inductees and performers.

Once again, we thank you all for your continued support!  It means a lot to us that so many people cherish the Museum as much as we do and we look forward to the future!  Please know that we do read all of your emails and we value your opinions!

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Congratulations to Harold Bradley a 2007 Musicians Hall of Fame Inductee. He will receive a Trustees Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the industry by the Recording Academy this Grammy season. Harold, along with Loretta Lynn and Walter Miller, will be feted at a special invitation-only ceremony to be held Saturday, Jan. 30, as part of Grammy week. A formal acknowledgment will also be made during the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards telecast, set for the next day at the L.A. Staples Center.