Joe Galante: Last News

Two artists who started their careers outside of country music were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as early rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and bluegrass performer-turned-country star Keith Whitley joined the ranks.Lewis, the 87-year-old artist nicknamed “The Killer,” was unable to attend the induction ceremony on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee, due to guidance from his doctor. But his fellow country stars Hank Williams Jr.

There are two new additions to the Country Music Hall of Fame, both of whom started their music careers in different genres, Jerry Lee Lewis, who began as a rock performer, and the late Keith Whitley, who initially got his start as a bluegrass performer. Lewis, also known as "The Killer," was not present at the ceremony on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee, as he was following his doctor's suggestions.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticJust two weeks after the last crop of honorees was formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in a medallion ceremony — including the Judds — the next trio of legends to be voted in has been announced, and it includes the name that has most often been cited by Hall-watchers as a snub: the long-overdue Jerry Lee Lewis.Also being ushered in are the late country star Keith Whitley — another figure that many would have like to have seen getting in much sooner — and arguably the most famous still-living executive to have reigned over Music Row, Joe Galante.In stark contrast to the more licentious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, country’s hall only inducts three or four new members each year, including those who get in via session player or executive categories, which creates a bottleneck that leaves plenty of icons still waiting their turn, making all three of these inductions long-sought and hard-fought by their champions. The inductees were announced in a ceremony at the Hall Tuesday morning by Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks, who as Brooks and Dunn are already in the hall themselves.Lewis was voted in as the sole representative of the Veterans Era Artist category, whereas Whitley will be inducted as the lone Modern Era Artist choice for this year.  Galante is getting in in the Non-Performer category, awarded every third year in rotation with Recording and/or Touring Musician and Songwriter categories.“It’s a great honor and a pleasure to be here in the Country Music Hall of Fame,” said Lewis, making an entrance at the end of the morning ceremony.

Chris Willman Music WriterJoyce Reeves Milsap, the wife of country star Ronnie Milsap, died Tuesday at age 81. No cause of death was immediately given.The couple wed in 1965, more than a decade before the singer came to prominence, and were often characterized as joined at the hip as he rose to become one of country’s biggest stars in the ’70s and ’80s.