We now know who will be the next inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame! Kenny Chesney is being inducted into the Modern Era category. June Carter Cash is being inducted into the Veterans Era Artist category, and Tony Brown is being inducted in the Non-Performer category.

“It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that I was a kid in East Tennessee,” Chesney says of the honor. “I went with my mom and my stepfather to a field about ten miles from my house, to see this group, Alabama, that was going to play. I couldn’t believe that they were going to play right down the road from my house.  I went to that show, and something happened to me that night. There was a fire lit. Something happened in my soul that set me on this path. If you’d have told that kid that night, on a hot summer night in East Tennessee that this was going to happen, I would have told you that you were crazy.”

Chesney could have never predicted how his life would unfold when he was a struggling musician, playing in a bluegrass band.

“I think it’s so ironic, because when I was in college, I played the Carter Fold a couple of times with that bluegrass band,” Chesney remarks. “Now, had you told that kid that was playing a slightly out-of-tune guitar, and probably not very good timing, that he was going to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame, and that he’d be inducted with June Carter, I would have told you that was an unbelievable dream. I would have told you that I’m getting ready to wake up somehow on my couch in college, and all of this was just a dream.”

From his early days, Chesney was fueled by his deep, deep love of country music.

“I’ve always felt that country music told a lot of truth,” Chesney reflects. “It also is fueled by a lot of dreams. And I had a really big dream that not a lot of people saw coming. And I can promise you, I did not see this coming. But my dream was built, my dream started on the shoulders of the dreams of George Jones. It was built on the shoulders of Randy, Teddy, Jeff and Mark, the group Alabama and Conway Twitty and Doc Watson …I had a really big dream. And I’m still pushing that dream, as far as I can. I just wanted to record and write songs that reflected the lives of a lot of people that came to our shows. I just wanted to spread as much positive energy and love as I possibly could. Standing up here, I know it’s not a dream. It’s real, and it feels surreal.”

June Carter Cash’s two children, Carlene Carter and John Carter Cash, spoke on behalf of their mother, who passed away in 2003.

“I just can’t tell you all what this means to us, to me and my brother, to our whole family,” Carlene says. “My mom was a force of nature. Everything she did she did with grace and style and finesse and humor. I was so proud to be her daughter and anything that’s good in me is because of that woman.”

John reflected on the significance of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” while in the rotunda at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“There’s one person who sang that song more than anyone else in their lifetime and that was my mother, June Cater,” he says. “She was s songwriter. She was a musical historian. She was a comedian. But she carried the torch for country music history throughout her lifetime .. Blessed to be here today. She did not know a stranger. She would be so grateful for this.”

Brown is an award-winning producer and musician, who has helped shape a lot of careers in country music, including Vince Gill, who announced the inductees.

“I’ve had a lot of big things happen in my life and my career,” Brown says. “This is the biggest. This is cool. I don’t care who you are. I’m totally blown away. I always wanted to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Never, ever imagined that I would be. Today, I stand here totally blown away … This is better than money. You make records, you can make some money, but this is better than money. This is about making an impact, and when it comes right down to it, that’s why we all get into this business, to make an impact. This means more than anything could ever mean to me. Thank you so much.”

All three inductees will become members at the Medallion Ceremony this fall. The event is closed to the public.

Photo Credit: Allister Ann