The Musicians Hall of Fame inducted a new class of members during a Nashville ceremony on April 28.

By Jessica Nicholson | Billboard.com

Back Row, L-R: Linda Chambers, Co-Founder and CEO of the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum; Don Felder, Britt Chambers-Hawker, Artist Relations, Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum; Keith Urban, John Boylan, Moira Hopkins, Dann Huff, Michael McDonald, Leland Sklar, Ricky Skaggs, Richie Owens Front Row: George Thorogood & The Destroyers L-R: Buddy Leach, Bill Blough, George Thorogood, Jeff Simon, Jim SuhlerRoyce DeGrie/ The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum

On April 28, the Musicians Hall of Fame welcomed a dozen new members, as it inducted its ninth class during a ceremony held at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University.

Dann Huff, Dolly Parton (recipient of the industry icon award), George Thorogood & the Destroyers, John Boylan (recipient of the producer award), Keith Urban, Leland Sklar, Michael McDonald and the late Nicky Hopkins were all inducted.

The evening launched with a private medallion ceremony, held in the Fisher Center’s Brad Paisley Ballroom, where Linda Chambers, Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum co-founder and CEO, presented Hall of Fame medallions and custom-made jackets to honorees, with help from guests and 2016 Musicians Hall of Fame inductees Ricky Skaggs and Don Felder.

Later, actor/musician Sam Palladio oversaw an all-star concert held to celebrate the honorees.

The Musicians Hall of Fame all-star band featured musicians Brent Rader, Mark Beckett, Paul Franklin, Mark Hill, Chris Leuzinger, John Jarvis, Michael Rojas, Sam Levine, Eric Darken, Alicia Enstrom, and Gordon Kennedy, as well as background vocalists Marcia Ware Wilder, Brent Rader and Tania Hancheroff.

Dweezil Zappa presented George Thorogood & The Destroyers (Thorogood, Jeff Simon, Bill Blough, Jim Suhler and Buddy Leach) with a Musicians Hall of Fame accolade, and joined the band for their first song, “Move It On Over.” The band followed with “Who Do You Love” and “Bad to the Bone.”

“With humility, we say thank you,” Thorogood told the audience in accepting the induction.

Producer/music executive Tony Brown honored bassist Sklar, known for his work with artists including James Taylor, Carole King and Lyle Lovett. Wendy Moten sang a powerful rendition of “Running on Empty” and Garth Brooks performed a joyous version of “How Sweet It Is.”

“You guys all light the paths that the rest of us try to follow,” Brooks told the evening’s honorees.

Bernie Leadon presented the accolade to John Boylan, known for his production work on Boston’s self-titled debut, as well as multiple albums recorded by Linda Ronstadt (whom he has also managed), Charlie Daniels Band and many more. Johnson performed “More Than a Feeling,” and Trisha Yearwood performed the Ronstadt-recorded songs “Love Has No Pride” as well as “Silver Threads and Golden Needles,” joined by Felder and Alicia Enstrom.

To honor guitarist Dann Huff, known for his work as a producer and musician on scores of albums (including a 25-year relationship working with fellow inductee Urban), but also for his keen guitar skills on albums by everyone from Michael Jackson to Kenny Rogers and Taylor Swift — and even on the Celine Dion smash “My Heart Will Go On” from the Titanic soundtrack. Along the way, Huff also performed as part of the Christian rock band White Heart.

Wendy Moten performed “My Heart Will Go On.”

Huff told the audience, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. I know it’s cliche to say this, but just to be inducted in the class with these people, it’s astounding.”

Peter Frampton honored the late pianist Nicky Hopkins, known for his work on albums by The Who, The Beatles, The Kinks and The Rolling Stones. Frampton called Hopkins “a piano player’s piano player,” while Hopkins was honored by performances of “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Revolution” and “Angie.” Vince Gill then sang a tender rendition of “You Are So Beautiful.” Hopkins’ wife Moira accepted the honor on his behalf.

Sheryl Crow presented the honor to Parton, who shared her acceptance remarks via a pre-recorded video message. While Parton is known for writing and performing all-time country hits like “9 to 5” and “Jolene,” she is also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, banjo, piano, dulcimer and more.

“I am very humbled to be inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame,” Parton said. “My songwriting is more important to me than anything, but as much as I’ve crafted lyrics in my mind, and then eventually started writing them down on paper, I realized early on that if I was going to write songs, I needed to be able to play instruments to bring them to life. I knew this would allow people to hear them in ways that I heard them playing in my head… I understood how important it was to speak to the instrumentation. I learned to communicate what I wanted to hear on records because I could play them.”

Guitarist-vocalist-writer Steve Wariner then performed a medley of Parton hits including “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “9 to 5.”

Gill and Skaggs presented the honor to Urban, who then took the stage to perform renditions of “Long Hot Summer,” “When Summer Comes Around” and “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me.”

“This is a bit surreal honestly,” Urban said in accepting his honor. To his fellow honorees, he said, “It’s a huge honor to be with every one of you in this class, it’s insane.” He said of his fellow inductee Huff, “I’ve grown so much from Dann about just being a better musician. I think when we started working together, I was just all stubble and rough as hell and all disheveled, like, that’s a vibe, let’s move on, next song. And Dann, who was from the Mutt Lange world, was like… play that solo 464 frickin’ times more. There was that learning curve. Somewhere in between the way the two of us were making records was how we ended up making records and I’m so honored that 25 years later we’re still making records together and have a new album coming out that we both got to do [Urban’s newly-announced yacht rock album Flow State, out June 12].”

Gill also presented the Musicians Hall of Fame accolade to McDonald, saying, “He possesses maybe the most identifiable voice.”

McDonald then sat at a keyboard to perform rousing versions of “What a Fool Believes” and “I Keep Forgettin'” and was then joined by his fellow honorees and the evening’s presenters for an all-star rendition of “Takin’ It To The Streets.”

Following the induction of the new members, the Musicians Hall of Fame has now inducted 200 musicians, producers, engineers and other industry members.

“Each new class of inductees reminds us why we do what we do — preserving and celebrating the legacy of the musicians who bring songs to life,” Chambers said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome these artists into the Musicians Hall of Fame.”

Throughout the evening, many also paid tribute to a producer and musical colleague who had been heavily involved in the making of the event, Musicians Hall of Fame Induction producer Cliff Downs, who died April 24 following a battle with cancer.

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Courtesy: UltimateClassicRock.com

George Thorogood has announced that he'll release The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live on June 12. You can hear a version of "Who Do You Love" below, which was recorded in Atlanta in 1980.

The new collection pays tribute to the road work that the Delaware blues-rocker has logged for more than 50 years with his band, the Destroyers. It highlights a series of recordings captured between 1978 and 2024, including a swath of previously unreleased tracks.

What Fans Can Expect From 'The Baddest Show on Earth'

Among the highlights from the band's vaults, you'll hear staples like "Bad to the Bone," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," plus additional fan favorites including "Boogie Chillun," "Tail Dragger" and "Madison Blues."

The version of "Bourbon" is just one high point. It was captured in 1980 and finds Thorogood engaged in a memorable musical duel with his late, longtime saxophonist Hank Carter.

Today, George Thorogood & The Destroyers—which currently consists of Jeff Simon (drums, percussion), Bill Blough (bass guitar), Jim Suhler (rhythm guitar), and Buddy Leach (saxophone)—have played more than 8,000 live shows. There are numerous milestones within that big number, including the famous blitz where they set a goal to knock out 50 shows in 50 days.

How George & the Destroyers Played 50 States in 50 Days, the Hard Way

They'd shared the bill for concerts with Rolling Stones in that same era and as Thorogood remembered, the 50-date marathon was grueling in more ways than one. "I caught a real bad head cold and after we played those shows with the Stones and Bill Graham wanted us to play a whole bunch more.," he told UCR in 2019.

"But the 50/50 tour was already booked. So I missed out on some big gigs. Madison Square Garden, among other places, with the Stones," he explained. "Even one of the dates we did on the 50/50 tour was with the Rolling Stones, in New Orleans. But I was sick as a dog, I had a temperature of about 110. [Laughs] and I was in front of 80 thousand people and I had to go on after the Neville Brothers and before the Rolling Stones. That was tough."

Read More: George Thorogood Announces ‘The Baddest Show on Earth’ Live Album | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/george-thorogood-the-baddest-show-on-earth-live-album/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral