Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis, the late country singer Keith Whitley, and music executive Joe Galante will join the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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From Ferriday, Louisiana, Lewis, now 86, found his initial fame under the guidance of Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, where he played alongside Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash in the now famous Million Dollar Quartet. His energy and ego were showcased on his early rock hits like "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On."
Over the years, he's been vocal about being snubbed from the Country Music Hall of Fame, saying he couldn't understand not being recognized for his country records and contribution to the genre. Lewis' career was nearly derailed over the scandal of his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra, and he faced a backlash from fans during a tour in England in 1958, when crowds became combative. Lewis spent several years blacklisted before mounting a return to the country charts in the late '60s.
Whitley had a short career, spanning just four years and seven months on the Billboard charts before his death at the age of 34 in 1989. But the singer from Sandy Hook, Kentucky, found commercial breakthrough with hits like "When You Say Nothing at All" and "I'm No Stranger to the Rain." He met Ricky Skaggs when they were both teenagers and they both were hired to be part of bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley's band, the Clinch Mountain Boys.
Galante took the helm at RCA Nashville at age 32, the youngest person to ever lead a major label's Nashville division. He would go on to sign artists like Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Lorrie Morgan and Keith Whitley, Vince Gill, The Judds, Martina McBride and more. He helped the band Alabama achieve crossover success with multi-platinum hits. In the 1990s, he returned to New York and became president of RCA, where he signed artists like Wu-Tang Clan and the Dave Matthews Band. He later returned to Nashville and oversaw the evolution of RCA to Sony BMG Nashville, adding imprints like Arista Nashville and Columbia Nashville. Many of the artists he worked with over the years have since become Country Music Hall of Famers, including The Judds only weeks ago.
The three inductees will have a formal induction ceremony in October.
