by Julian Spivey
The 2024 Country Music Hall of Fame class will be announced on Monday, March 18 by Hall of Fame duo Brooks & Dunn at 10 a.m. (CST) from the Hall of Fame rotunda in Nashville.
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Each year’s class features a member from the Modern Era, Veterans Era and Non-Performer, Songwriter and Recording/Touring musician category.

The Modern Era consists of artists eligible for induction 20 years after they first achieved “national prominence.” The Veterans Era will be an artist eligible 40 years after they first achieve “national prominence.” The Non-Performer, Songwriter and Recording/Touring musician category is rotated every three years. In 2022, music executive Joe Galante was inducted. In 2023, songwriter Bob McDill was inducted. So, 2024 will see a recording and or touring musician inducted.  

Because of the selectiveness of the induction process only having three people inducted per year and one per category, there’s no shortage of talented and deserving members of the country music family waiting in line to be inducted.

Here are the three artists I would include on my ballot this year if I were a voting member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. 

Modern Era
This would be a good time for the Country Music Hall of Fame to induct Toby Keith, who undoubtedly deserves induction into the hallowed halls based on his volume of hits, record sales, popularity, etc. It would’ve been nice for him to be inducted while he was still among us but the truth is he probably was still behind some other candidates. His death in early February from cancer at age 62 may expedite his induction. Though, Keith was somewhat of a controversial figure, even within mainstream Nashville, due to political views and his role in helping oust The [Dixie] Chicks from the industry. That might cost him some votes. But if I had to guess he’ll likely be the inductee in this category this year.

However, despite believing Keith is a worthy candidate he wouldn’t be on my ballot because the Hall of Fame continues to snub the artist who has been my preferred inductee for many years now … Dwight Yoakam.

Yoakam is closer to being eligible for the Veterans Era choice now, his debut album came out 38 years ago, and I think he’ll likely have to wait for that to happen before he’s inducted.

Yoakam truly helped save country music in part when he burst onto the scene in the mid-80s by keeping the Bakersfield Sound made popular by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard alive and well and for nearly 40 years he’s always stayed true to that sound.

Yoakam has sold more than 25 million records in his career and has the admiration of nearly everyone in the business, but he never had many country radio megahits or won many country music awards and having been based in California for his career he might be considered too much of an outsider to rack up enough votes in a company town. 

He’ll continue to be my choice in either the Modern Era or eventually the Veterans Era categories until he’s eventually inducted.

Veterans Era
One artist who passed into the Veterans Era category within the last few years and should have somewhat of an easier time making the Hall of Fame now that he’s reached this status is John Anderson. Anderson never had all that many huge hits with five No. 1s to his name (“Wild & Blue,” “Swingin’,” “Black Sheep,” “Straight Tequila Night” and “Money in the Bank”) but has always been a beloved figure among his fellow artists.

The most fascinating aspect of Anderson’s career for me is he had some huge hits in the early-to-mid ‘80s and then kind of disappeared on the charts throughout the second half of that decade before making a huge comeback with 1992’s Seminole Wind, which spawned four top-10s hits including “Straight Tequila Night,” which might be his most famous. Anderson has one of the most unique voices in all of country music and it’s time he’s put among the legends where he belongs.

Recording or Touring Musician
The Country Music Hall of Fame seems to like to induct living members into the Hall of Fame, which is understandable but can sometimes lead to deserving musicians who have been gone a long time getting the short end of the stick.

I feel that’s been the case for Don Rich, maybe one of the most famous sidemen in the history of country music. Rich, who was as synonymous with the Bakersfield Sound as anyone (can you tell I love the Bakersfield Sound?) as Buck Owen’s guitarist, fiddler and band leader in The Buckaroos.  Unlike most acts in country music at the time, in the early ‘60s, The Buckaroos would perform with Owens both in the recording studio and on tour. It is Rich playing lead guitar on most of Owens’s biggest hits like “Act Naturally,” “Together Again,” “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” and “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me).”

Tragically, Rich’s life was cut short at just 32 years old when he was killed in a motorcycle accident on July 17, 1974.

His achievements as one of the greatest guitar players in country music history should’ve been awarded by now, but it’s never too late.

The “Queen Bey” has made her way to country radio. It seems like there’s no shortage of opinions about this move since Beyoncé expertly dropped her first two singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” during a Super Bowl LVIII commercial on February 11. It was a teaser to the full album Cowboy Carter which will debut March 29, the second act to her 2022 Grammy-nominated Renaissance album. 

“Texas Hold ‘Em” specifically is historic, hitting No. 1 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and staying there for the past four weeks. She’s the first Black woman ever to claim the top spot on the Billboard Country chart and has two songs in the top 10 with “16 Carriages” at No. 9. 

Obviously, the fans approve. But I have to say I’ve seen a lot of negativity online — big shocker — acting like Beyoncé shouldn’t make country music. I saw one meme circulating about cutting off the song as soon as it started. I don’t get that vitriol at all, though making sense of online negativity is a losing battle. 

In my mind, I’m shocked it’s taken her this long to make a country album. She’s a Texas native, a powerhouse singer-songwriter and already dabbled with country successfully on songs like “Daddy Lessons” on 2016’s Lemonade. 

Plus, she’s Beyoncé. She’s earned the right to take whatever musical risks she wants. While I’ve never done a deep dive into her discography, I will always have my favorite Beyoncé songs floating around my Spotify playlists, dating back to Destiny’s Child. “Texas Hold ‘Em” is now one of them. 

The song is written by Beyoncé and five other writers, Brian Bates, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nathan Ferraro and Raphael Saadiq, which honestly seems like a lot for this song. It’s probably way fewer than normal sadly since country songs these days are either written solo or by an entire football team. 

Right from the first lyrics “This ain't Texas (woo), ain't no hold 'em (hey) / So lay your cards down, down, down, down,” the song hooks you. It’s got a fun Texas swing style about it, particularly the lyrics about “headin’ to the dive bar we always thought was nice.” It’s basically about a woman persuading her man to swing her around the dance floor. 

Sure, it throws in some random “country-ish” things — tornados, rugged whiskey, a heat wave, a hoedown — but at least it doesn’t mention a truck. In Beyoncé’s song, it’s a Lexus. I applaud that honestly, because not every Southern person owns a truck. I love that she enlisted masterful musician Rhiannon Giddens to play banjo and viola on the track, giving it an even more country vibe. 

The song does throw in a pop-ish sound and lyric in the middle of the catchy chorus: “Don’t be a bitch, come take it to the floor now (woo).” I find myself singing that line randomly, so it was a solid choice, even if it meant wandering a bit into a city club sound.

What keeps this from being a great song overall is the last few lines. Sure, it’s fine to deviate a bit, and throw in that catchy ‘bitch’ line, but what in the name of Texas is up with the whispery lines, “Furs, spurs, boots / Solargenic, photogenic, shoot.” Both lyrically and musically they don’t match the rest of the song and it’s unnecessary. I hate that the song didn’t stick the landing because the rest is fun. 

If ‘Texas’ is a must-have popular radio hit, then “16 Carriages” serves as the more retrospective country ballad. Written by Beyoncé, Atia Boggs, Dave Hamelin and again Saadiq, the song, likely an ode to her rise to fame, has had a good amount of critical acclaim. In an American Songwriter article, Alex Hopper pointed to the most likely fan theories about what “16 carriages” actually refers to, her time touring or specifically when her career launched as a teenager. To me, it seems likely that both are true. While the song isn’t exactly classic like Willie’s “On the Road Again,” when he talks about touring, it’s an important song for Beyoncé to release. It’s her opportunity to share, from a more country perspective, what she’s been through in the spotlight for so many years, with lyrics like, “It’s been umpteen summers, and I’m not in my bed / On the back of the bus in a bunk with the band / Goin’ so hard, gotta choose myself / Undеrpaid and overwhelmed / I might cook, clеan, but still won’t fold.” 

I love how later in the song she refers back to these lyrics, changing it to “38 summers and I’m not in my bed” and pointing to how much she misses her kids. 

In those old Westerns, there were sacrifices for a cowboy lifestyle. In ‘16,’ Beyoncé is painting that picture of sacrifice with a Western backdrop, but for her art. While it’s nowhere near as catchy as, say, the Destiny’s Child song, “Survivor,” it’s very much a survival story. The percussion in the song makes the listener feel the drudgery in the journey of making her art. Yes, Beyoncé has a blessed life, but she’s worked hard for it. Creative people know the grind and the sacrifices made to chase our dreams, so the song is very relatable. Much like the great choice to include Giddens, Robert Randolph is the steel guitarist star on this track. It just gives it a very country feel, even with Beyoncé’s fast pacing on the verses. 

I’ve been more drawn to “Texas Hold ‘Em” because it’s the fun song out of the two. But I think “16 Carriages” should be praised. I hope these two singles indicate the kind of musical mix the Cowboy Carter album has in store for fans.