Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare and the late Jack Clement joined the Country Music Hall of Fame at its museum in Nashville.
Bobby Bare, Kenny Rogers and Jack Clement were honored for their influence on modern Country music at the ceremony attended by Garth Brooks, Kris Kristofferson and Barry Gibb.
Kenny Rogers, whose hits include Lucille and Islands in the Stream, called it the “culmination” of his career.
“I’m flattered, I’m honored and I’m nervous,” the singer said before the ceremony.
Kenny Rogers, 75, helped lead the way for crossover country pop hits and was in a reflective mood.
“What I’ve realized is that success is not a happening, it’s a journey,” he said.
“I think without this it would have been incomplete.”
Bobby Bare, 78, whose hits include Dee-troit City and How I Got to Memphis, said of his induction: “It means that I will forever be referred to as a hall of famer. It sounds real good.”
Fellow inductee Jack Clement died from liver cancer in August this year at 82, but he had found out five months earlier that he would be honored.
Jack Clement was inducted as a producer, songwriter and performer, having penned some of Johnny Cash’s early hits and been responsible for the famous mariachi horns on Ring of Fire, which was performed at the ceremony.
He also worked with Jerry Lee Lewis and discovered Charley Pride.
