Fantasy Ballots: Country Music Hall of Fame, Conclusion

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. We’ve officially arrived to the Year 2031. Our first five rounds of Fantasy Ballot inductions in the Country Music Hall of Fame are completed, and we’ve successfully churned through decades of backlog to exponentially grow the roster of deserved Hall of Fame plaques in the hallowed rotunda. All that said, even our five years of efforts have not completely erased the list of questionable exclusions, and continued classes of talented artists are increasingly waiting in the wings, as the circle continues forward, forever unbroken.

So, before we inevitably wake up to the reality where only a small fraction of the names featured in these series will actually be inducted by 2031(sigh!), let’s keep the fun & fantasy going a bit longer to assess those that we’d further consider for HOF contention in the 2030s and beyond…

Remaining Legends in the Waiting Room

These are the various acts who just missed the cut on our five Fantasy Ballots for the years 2026-2030, each of them having already solidified a Hall-worthy impact on the country music field:

The Bellamy Brothers, Jimmy Buffett, Anita Carter, David Allan Coe, Joe Diffie, The Eagles, Joe Ely, Bobbie Gentry, The Mavericks, Jeannie C. Riley, Sawyer Brown, Billy Joe Shaver, Gary Stewart, Steve Wariner, Jerry Jeff Walker, Doc & Merle Watson, Wynonna (solo induction)

Next Surefire Superstars & Trailblazers

The most prominent and durable A-list superstars of the past two decades who have exhibited the most staying power commercially and/or creatively, and are just becoming eligible as the late 2020s turn into the early 2030s. They’ve all passed the same Hall-worthy threshold that our series stars did, with the only thing standing between them and the Hall being the passage of time.

Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift

The B-List: The Bridesmaids & The Bubbling Unders

The most crowded bunch to be gathered in this piece. These are all beloved hitmakers who have undoubtedly left their mark on the country music story, and have achieved an artistic legacy to be proud of. A good majority of them enjoyed superstar-level success at one point, but they just didn’t sustain that level of prominence as long as those in the categories above. Others may not have ever hit those box-office levels, but instead saw their biggest songs or the artistic impact of their albums grow in retrospect. A strong induction argument could be made, but these are the artists that often fall into the undeniably fair discussion of “you can’t induct everyone!”

Gary Allan, Suzy Bogguss, Carlene Carter, Deana Carter, Mark Chesnutt, Terri Clark, Lacy J. Dalton, Sara Evans, Freddie Hart, Highway 101, Jan Howard, Tracy Lawrence, Lady A, Lonestar, Jo Dee Messina, John Michael Montgomery, Jeanne Pruett, Collin Raye, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker, Sammi Smith, Sugarland, Josh Turner, Zac Brown Band

Miscellaneous Enigmas, Songwriters & Musicians

This is an eclectic array of characters whose country music story doesn’t necessarily fit as neatly into the other groupings featured here. Some of these individuals enjoyed mainstream success at one point, while some of them never did at all. Some of them are strictly songwriters or musicians who helped craft music behind the scenes, while others dabbled out in the spotlight as well. Most of them existed on the periphery and fringes of country in its numerous adjacent universes, but they’ve all contributed something special to the genre’s overall story. And this undoubtedly just scratches the surface of those like them.

Nudie Cohn, Gail Davies, Jerry Douglas (solo), Chet Flippo, Radney Foster, Paul Franklin, Chris Hillman, KD Lang, Lyle Lovett, Linda Martell, Lori McKenna, New Grass Revival, Nickel Creek, Robert K. Oermann, KT Oslin, Bruce Robison, Charlie Robison, Dan Tyminski (solo), Rhonda Vincent, Jimmy Webb

Alt & Americana

The alternative country and Americana music scenes that were originally underground off-shoots of the country music format in the late 90s has inarguably become a hotbed for a good majority of the most authentic iterations of the music over the past quarter-century, especially as “old-world” gate-keepers like terrestrial radio, major labels, and award shows become increasingly irrelevant in the age of streaming and Tik Tok. These names are already proving to be as historically significant as their mainstream counterparts who ruled the commercial charts at the same time, and will undoubtedly become a major part of future induction discussions.

Brandi Carlile, Hayes Carll, Brandy Clark, Justin Townes Earle, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Isbell, Robert Earl Keen, Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Miller, Ashley Monroe, Margo Price, Shovels & Rope, Sturgill Simpson, Trampled By Turtles, Gillian Welch

The Urban Bro Cocktail

This is a complicated bunch right here. An assortment of artists who have left an inarguable commercial impact on the country music universe, but whose contributions were either or both fleeting and representative of some of the genre’s more maligned sonic movements. Their music, while impactful, has not generally earned the retrospective respect and acclaim most commonly associated with Hall of Fame induction. In the case of the bro-country acts of the 2010s especially, their critical legacies were DOA, but are their sales, radio and touring stats too momentous to ignore?

Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Mac Davis, Florida Georgia Line, Janie Fricke, Lee Greenwood, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton-John, TG Sheppard

Still Rising

These are the most pivotal superstars, critical darlings, rising noisemakers of the current day. They’re still unveiling the artistic story of their peak years, much less laying the groundwork for their legacies in the decades ahead. A handful of them have already definitively made the sort of impact that will guarantee them Hall consideration once they become eligible in the years ahead, and there’s plenty of time ahead for all of them to seal the deal.

Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, Luke Combs, Charley Crockett, Sierra Ferrell, Wyatt Flores, Natalie Hemby, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, Ashley McBryde, Megan Moroney, Maren Morris, Carly Pearce, Orville Peck, Red Clay Strays, Amanda Shires, Billy Strings, Turnpike Troubadours, Zach Top, Morgan Wallen, The War & Treaty, Lainey Wilson

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