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by Julian Spivey The 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame induction class was announced on March 25 with Kenny Chesney elected in the Modern Era Artist category, June Carter elected posthumously in the Veterans Era Artist category and producer Tony Brown elected in the Non-Performer category, which rotates every three years with the Songwriter and Recording and/or Touring Musician categories. Here are the 10 greatest songs from the 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame Induction class: 10. “Wildwood Flower” by June Carter When June Carter was announced as the Veterans Era Artist Country Music Hall of Fame inductee for 2025, some were surprised it took so long for her to be elected. I was surprised she was elected as a solo artist given that her only hits were either with the country comic duo Homer & Jethro or her husband, Johnny Cash. All three of her songs on this list are either with Johnny Cash (I limited it to one) or are songs written by her uncle, A.P. Carter, and originated by her family’s The Carter Family band. “Wildwood Flower,” was one of the Carter Family classics, June Carter recorded toward the end of her life for her fourth and final solo album, Wildwood Flower. The album was released four months after her death. “Wildwood Flower” is a variant of the old-timey song “I’ll Twine ‘Mid the Ringlets,” composed by Joseph Philbuck Webster. June Carter’s late-life version of “Wildwood Flower,” a tune she’d likely sung her entire life, was beautiful in its frailties. It featured her sweet but wavering voice, her plucking on her autoharp and Johnny joining in on the chorus. 9. “A Lot of Things Different” by Kenny Chesney “A Lot of Things Different” is not one of Kenny Chesney’s “greatest hits.” If you’re not all that familiar with Chesney’s 2002 album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems (though, if you’re a fan of his, you should be), you may not remember it, even though it was a single. It was a strange choice for that album and an even stranger choice as a single, even though it did top out at No. 6 on the country chart, but it’s a beautiful song, co-written by two legends of the craft in Bill Anderson and Dean Dillon. “A Lot of Things Different” finds Chesney pining about all of the things he wishes he could do over in life. It’s a quieter, more reflective side of Chesney than the one you’ll find on stage at his massive concerts. 8. “Check Yes or No” by George Strait (Produced by Tony Brown) Without George Strait, you can’t tell the story of newly elected Country Music Hall of Fame producer Tony Brown. Strait spent most of the ‘80s recording hits with producer Jimmy Bowen, but Brown took over starting with Strait’s “Pure Country” soundtrack, and pretty much everything after that was a collaboration between the two. Many of Strait’s biggest hits were Brown productions: “I Cross My Heart,” “Blue Clear Sky,” “Carrying Your Love with Me,” etc. To keep all three of my Brown selections from being Strait songs, I’ve limited just one to this list, and the one I’ve chosen is their 1995 No. 1 hit “Check Yes or No,” which tells the sweet tale of a schoolyard crush that turns into a lasting love. I’m honestly no expert in the production side of music, but I can tell you Brown and Strait make magic together. 7. “Keep on the Sunny Side” by June Carter One of the greatest Carter Family classics was the easy-to-sing-along, “Keep on the Sunny Side,” which they popularized in 1928. The origins of the song go as far back as 1899. It’s a song about the duality of light and dark aspects of life and how one will be better off trying to remain on the light, sunny or righteous path. June Carter recorded the song multiple times in her life – in 1964, with the Carter Family feat. Johnny Cash, on Johnny Cash’s 1974 album The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me accompanied by Rosanne Cash and Carlene Carter (Johnny’s daughter from a previous marriage and June’s daughter from an earlier marriage) and again for her final solo album in 2003. 6. “You and Tequila” by Kenny Chesney Kenny Chesney’s “You and Tequila,” a collaboration with Grace Potter, from his 2011 album Hemingway’s Whiskey, is one of the highlights from the second half of his career. The song, written by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter, is smooth in its vocals and sound, and tells of the things that turn the narrator crazy, and how that might not necessarily be a great thing. The song hit No. 3 on the country chart in 2011 and was nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Best Country Song. 5. “When I Call Your Name” by Vince Gill (Produced by Tony Brown) I think “When I Call Your Name” is the best song of Vince Gill’s Country Music Hall of Fame career, and Tony Brown produced that record. The tear-jerker, which hit No. 2 on the country chart in 1990, perfectly captures Gill’s high and lonesome vocal. In 2024, Rolling Stone magazine ranked “When I Call Your Name” as the 91st greatest country song of all time. 4. “Better as a Memory” by Kenny Chesney There are a good number of folks who have never been Kenny Chesney fans. They don’t believe he’s really country music. You saw this sentiment pop up recently when he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. And, while I can admit Chesney’s music isn’t exactly Merle Haggard, George Strait or Alan Jackson, I can’t deny the beauty and excellence of some of his output. Call it whatever you want, but how could you hate on something as beautiful as 2008’s “Better as a Memory,” written by Scooter Carusoe and Lady Goodman? The No. 1 hit off Chesney’s Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, sees Chesney addressing a lover he’s leaving, citing the reasons they’ll be better off without him in poetic phrases like: “I’m built to fade like your favorite song” and “goodbyes are like a roulette wheel you never know where they’re gonna land.” 3. “Guitar Town” by Steve Earle (Produced by Tony Brown) Steve Earle’s “Guitar Town” is my favorite song produced by Tony Brown. It was co-produced with Emory Gordy Jr. The title track of Earle’s breakthrough 1986 debut album was Earle’s first career top-10 hit, topping out at No. 7 on the country singles chart in 1986. Nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Best Country Song, “Guitar Town” is the perfect example of country (or roots/heartland) rock that showed Earle could be a crossover success. 2. “Anything but Mine” by Kenny Chesney Kenny Chesney has shown an incredible knack for choosing terrific songs that fit his sound and vibe, and Scooter Carusoe’s “Anything but Mine” is the best of his career. The No. 1 hit off 2004’s When the Sun Goes Down tells the story of a brief summer love and the final night of this relationship, where the narrator hopes to make a lasting memory before having to return home. It’s one of the great encapsulations of young love and emotions put to music. 1. “Jackson” by Johnny & June Carter Cash June Carter is, without a doubt, known more for the musical collaborations and duets with her superstar husband, Johnny Cash, than the solo stuff she recorded during her career, which unfortunately wasn’t a lot. Johnny and June were meant to be together, and you can tell this from their incredible duets that show off their bond, love and camaraderie. Among their greatest duets are “If I Were a Carpenter” and an exquisite cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe,” but their absolute best was 1967’s No. 2 country hit “Jackson,” which finds the two playing off each other in a comical, rowdy way. The husband and wife duo make a meal of this tune, written by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber.
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