Get to know the 2020 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

A country music traditionalist with a truly distinctive style, Marty Stuart has been a fixture of the genre for decades. A ridiculously talented musician and the frontman of the Fabulous Superlatives, Stuart is also a truly devoted historian of the genre. 

A fixture of American music since the 1960s, Marty Stuart started his career as a touring musician long before his solo career ever took off. As a child, he performed in a bluegrass band, then joined the legendary Lester Flatt’s band at the age of 13. The following decade, Stuart joined country legend Johnny Cash’s band before securing his first solo contract. 

Stepping out into the spotlight as a solo artist, Stuart released his debut album on Columbia Records in 1986. The self-titled effort included the hit song “Arlene,” written by Curtis Allen, and “Heart of Stone,” co-written by Stuart. 

After parting ways with Columbia Records and inking a deal with MCA Records, Stuart’s 1989 record Hillbilly Rock cemented his place as a star in the making. The album includes its wildly popular title track, and a cover of his former frontman Johnny Cash’s “Cry! Cry! Cry!” 

Thanks to the creeping influence of pop on mainstream country, traditionalists like Stuart were tasked with keeping the iconic sounds of old-school country music alive with tracks like “Now That’s Country” and “This One’s Gonna Hurt You,” a duet with Travis Tritt. Over the years, he charted six top-ten singles and recorded four albums that would later be certified Gold. 

Backed by guitarist Kenny Vaughan, drummer Harry Stinson, bassist Chris Scruggs, and himself on mandolin and guitar, Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives are one of the finest bands in country music. 

In addition to making tunes that honor country music’s past, Stuart is also a noted historian of the genre. He’s got an extensive collection of country memorabilia that includes more than 20,000 pieces of art, recordings, and costumes. He’s also helped curate a number of museum exhibits focused on the genre, and is noted for taking the very last photo of Johnny Cash, just four days before he died. 

One of the most accomplished songwriters in Nashville history, Dean Dillon is responsible for some of the genre’s biggest hits, working with artists like Keith Whitley, George Strait, and Kenny Chesney. In 2020, the Country Music Hall of Fame selected Dean as one of its newest inductees, noting that he “wrote with and for masters, eventually becoming a master himself.” 

A Nashville newcomer named Larry Dean Flynn first pursued fame as a solo artist under multiple monikers, finally settling on “Dean Dillon” in the late 1970s. His first solo album, Brotherly Love, came in 1982 and was co-written by his songwriting partner, the late Gary Stewart. 

Dillon’s songwriting talents first began to shine in 1981, when David Allan Coe released his version of “Tennessee Whiskey,” a song that would later be a major hit for George Jones in 1983, and Chris Stapleton in 2015. 

Throughout his time in Nashville, Dean Dillon has written for some of the genre’s biggest artists, including Kenny Chesney, Pam Tillis, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, and Alabama. 

From the beginning, Dillon and hitmaker George Strait had a serious chemistry. Dillon’s responsible for the lyrics of some of Strait’s most massive successes, including “Easy Come, Easy Go,” “Ocean Front Property,” and “The Chair.” 

Following in the footsteps of her father, Dillon’s daughter Jessie Jo Dillon clearly inherited the family talent. In 2019, country duo Dan + Shay released their #1 hit “10,000 Hours,” which features a cameo (and co-write) from pop star Justin Bieber. 

For better and for worse, Hank Williams Jr. carries the heaviest name in country music. The son of the legendary Hank Williams and a talented artist in his own right, there’s no denying that the man nicknamed “Bocephus” didn’t carve his own unique path into the genre. 

Even though his father was only alive for six years of his life, being the son of a country great meant that Hank Williams Jr. grew up learning about music from legends like Merle Haggard, bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Earl Scruggs. 

From the age of eight years old, Hank Williams Jr. was singing his father’s songs, recording “Long Gone Lonesome Blues” in 1964 and even voicing Hank Sr. in the 1964 film Your Cheatin’ Heart.  As a musician, his talents weren’t fully realized until he stopped trying to sound like his father. 

While climbing mountains in Montana, Hank Williams Jr. suffered a serious brain injury after falling from Ajax Peak, which meant years of surgeries and a massive change to his aesthetic. To hide the scars from the injury, Williams donned a cowboy hat, sunglasses, and a thick beard, going in a totally different direction than the clean-cut, suit-wearing style of Hank Sr. 

After surviving the fall in Montana and getting control of some of his own personal battles with drugs and alcohol, Hank Williams Jr. dominated the charts in the late 1970s and early 1980s with hits like “Family Tradition,” “A Country Boy Can Survive”  “Born to Boogie,” and “All My Rowdy Friends.” Between 1979 and 1990, Williams charted 30 top-ten hits. 

For most kids who grew up in the ‘90s, Hank Jr.’s name brings only one thing to mind: Monday Night Football. From 1989 to 2011, a version of his hit “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” was the theme song for Monday Night Football until the network removed the song in 2011 over inflammatory comments Williams made about then-President Barack Obama. 

When it was announced that Hank Williams Jr. would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Hall made clear that Bocephus is in some truly elite company. Having charted ten #1s on the Billboard country singles chart, Williams is one of only eight Hall of Famers to have earned that honor, joining Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Ray Price, George Strait, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Eddy Arnold.