USA TODAY International Edition
Dolly could knock down Rock Hall doors
It’s official. Dolly Parton rocks! The country music legend was announced Tuesday as a 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, yet another industry kudo in a career brimming with accolades.
Though Parton, 76, initially balked – she tried to decline her nomination on social media – she came around days before the announcement, saying in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition that if she were inducted, she would “accept gracefully.”
To be sure, the Tennessee singer and songwriter is hardly the first country musician to be enshrined in the Cleveland rock pantheon. But the list to date largely consists of country pioneers whose artistry cemented the foundation upon which rock ‘ n’ roll built its house. They include Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers and Johnny Cash, not to mention Elvis Presley, whose vocal alchemy turned country and blues into rock.
Parton’s inclusion should open the gates to other greats who are equally deserving. Here are five bona fide country legends whose influence also radiates well beyond Nashville and should follow her into the Rock Hall:
Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks, 60, is widely credited with infusing a rock attitude into country music shows, whether on the road in big stadiums or in the confines of a Las Vegas residency. Beyond the sheer volume of his multimillion sales – which put him in the same company as Elvis and The Beatles – Brooks already is enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and at 58 was the youngest recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
The crossover appeal of Brooks’ work was evident in 1991, when his third album, “Ropin’ the Wind,” entered the Billboard album chart at the top spot, the first for a country artist. If there ever was a country musician whose vision for himself went well beyond the confines of his genre, Brooks is it.
Patsy Cline
Although Patsy Cline died in a plane crash at age 30, her legacy as a music pioneer was sealed by indelible performances in songs such as “I Fall to Pieces” and the Willie Nelson- penned standard “Crazy.” Although Cline is inextricably linked to country music – she brazenly pioneered the cowboy hatand- jeans look for women – the crossover appeal of her soaring plaintive voice defied categorization.
Beyond her musical gifts, Cline was a tough- as- nails woman undaunted by a male- dominated industry and utterly committed to walking her own path.
Willie Nelson
The arc of Willie Nelson’s career is improbably long, resulting in a pop- culture influence that is unique among country musicians. Nelson, 89, started as a clean- cut singer and songwriter, but as the counterculture set in, he adopted a rebel stance. Long and often braided hair, red bandana, battered nylon- string guitar, plenty of marijuana – it added up to a look and vibe that oozed originality.
Nelson was riding particularly high in the ’ 70s, with hits such as “On the Road Again” and “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” and friends in lofty places, including President Jimmy Carter. Nelson played to stadium crowds when that wasn’t the norm for most country acts, proving that his musical and personal influence was universal.
Glen Campbell
The late Glen Campbell’s best- known song is a plaintive track that seems rooted in Middle America. “Wichita Lineman” was joined by similarly evocative hits such as “Southern Nights” and “Galveston” that would seem to root the handsome crooner, who died in 2017 at 81, squarely in the country camp.
Yet Campbell’s Hall credentials were established long before that success. Campbell and his peerless guitar were part of the fabled Wrecking Crew ensemble, Los Angeles studio musicians who quietly laid down the beat for an impossibly long list of rock ‘ n’ roll hits.
Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson is a Renaissance man. An actor and singer, Kristofferson was a cornerstone of the Nashville scene whose lyrics and delivery left audiences breathless in songs such as “Sunday Morning Coming Down.”
But what makes Kristofferson, 85, more than a country legend is the range of his work. Themes include politics (“They Killed Him” finds the singer lamenting the loss of great leaders); show business (“To Beat the Devil” looks at the cutthroat music industry); and friendship (“Good Morning John” was a message to his addiction- plagued pal Johnny Cash). But Kristofferson’s most enduring tune was by Janis Joplin, who gender- flipped “Me and Bobby McGee” and made it immortal.