Young recounted how Wiseman’s mother, Neva, encouraged her son to develop his musical talent as a way to deal with the physical restrictions of polio. “He is known as ‘the Voice with a Heart,’ and it’s hard to imagine a more accurate nickname.” “Mac Wiseman has one of the great voices in American musical history,” Young said in discussing Wiseman’s career. The eighty-nine-year-old Wiseman-born in Crimora, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley-survived a debilitating bout of polio, contracted in his teens, to become a significant bluegrass and country artist who recorded more than eight hundred songs over a seven-decade career.
Video tributes on each artist, featuring vintage footage taken from interviews and performances stored in the museum’s Frist Library and Archive, helped convey the talent and personalities of each new Hall of Fame member and underline why they deserve the prestigious honor.Īdditional photos of the evening available at MAC WISEMAN In words and songs, the inductees’ triumphs were heralded, their legacies honored, and their achievements enshrined for all time.Ĭalling the three men “great Americans who have made country music history,” museum director Kyle Young briefly described the unique artistry of Cochran, Milsap, and Wiseman while encapsulating their backgrounds and achievements. In a star-studded Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the three legendary figures were feted with heartfelt testimonials and stirring performances in a two-hour celebration in the museum’s 800-seat CMA Theater.
Each now shares another accomplishment: they became the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame on October 26, 2014. NASHVILLE, Tenn., Octo– Hank Cochran, Ronnie Milsap, and Mac Wiseman each overcame extraordinarily difficult childhoods to put a distinctive footprint on American music history. Mac Wiseman Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Director Kyle Young and Ronnie Milsap. R&B great Sam Moore, and Gene Watson among all-star cast paying tribute Pictured at the 2014 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony are (l-r): CMA CEO Sarah Trahern Suzi Cochran, widow of Hank Cochran Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill, Hunter Hayes, Alison Krauss, Jim Lauderdale, Martina McBride,