Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” “Trio” Album to Grammy Hall of Fame

The Grammy Awards have announced their annual inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and a few of them have deep ties to country music.

Kenny Rogers passed away earlier this year, and as one of the most recognizable artists in country music history, it’s not a surprise the Grammys would tap one of his most recognizable songs for induction.

Written by Don Schlitz, “The Gambler” is so synonymous with Kenny Rogers, it later became his nickname, and launched a movie franchise starring Rogers. It might be one of the most recognizable country songs of all time, along with winning the Grammy for Best Male Solo Performance in 1980. That’s why the song makes for a pretty easy induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame for 2020.

Speaking of Grammy-winning works, that was the fate for the first record from the country music supergroup simply known as Trio. Combining the powers of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, their 1987 debut album went down in history as one of the most critically-acclaimed albums of all time, won the 1988 Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group, and was nominated for the all-genre Album of the Year. Now it will also be enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame as well.

And speaking of Linda Ronstadt, her Spanish-speaking album also from 1987 Canciones de Mi Padre has also been selected for Grammy induction in 2020. And finally from the country world, The Recording Academy went all the way back to what many consider to be the first commercially successful country recording of all time. Vernon Dalhart’s “Wreck of the Old 97” released in 1924 will also be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2020.

Find all of the 2020 Grammy Hall of Fame inductions below.

“Au Clair de la Lune,” Edouard-Leon Scott De Martinville, single (c. 1853-61)
“Blues Breakers,” John Mayall with Eric Clapton, album  (1966)
“Canciones de Mi Padre,” Linda Ronstadt, album (1987)
“Clean Up Woman,” Betty Wright, single (1971)
“Copenhagen,” Fletcher Henderson And His Orchestra, single (1924)
“Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey, single (1981)
“Freight Train,” Elizabeth Cotton, single (1958)
“Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.,” Bruce Springsteen, album (1973)
“Horses,” Patti Smith, album (1975)
“Hot Buttered Soul,” Isaac Hayes, album (1969)
“In the Right Place,” Dr. John, album (1973)
“Licensed to Ill,” Beastie Boys, album (1986)
“Mad Dogs & Englishmen,” Joe Cocker, album (1970)
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at ‘The Club’,” The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, album (1966)
“Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major,” Leonard Bernstein with the Philharmonia Orchestra Of London, album (1948)
“Schoenberg: The Four String Quartets,” Kolisch String Quartet, album (1937)
“So,” Peter Gabriel, album (1986)
“Solitude,” Billie Holiday, single (1952)
“Ten,” Pearl Jam, album (1991)
“Texas Flood,” Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, album (1983)
“The Cars,” The Cars, album (1978)
“The Gambler,” Kenny Rogers, single (1978)
“The Low End Theory,” A Tribe Called Quest, album (1991)
“Time Is On My Side,” Irma Thomas, single (1964)
“Trio,” Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, album (1987)
“We Are The World,” USA For Africa, single (1985)
“When the Levee Breaks,” Kansas Joe And Memphis Minnie, single (1929)
“Wreck of the Old 97,” Vernon Dalhart, single (1924)
“Y.M.C.A.,” Village People, single (1978)

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