Barbara Mandrell: Joins Hall of Fame

Barbara Mandrell: Joins Hall of Fame

On Sunday singer Barbara Mandrell along with other singers namely Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy has been  inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in an emotional ceremony that felicitate them for their music as well as their contributions of making the genre to a mass audience through television.

Sources have thrown more light on this news. According to Tammy Genovese, the Country Music Association's chief executive officer , "All three of tonight's inductees looked at the way country music was presented on television and said: 'We can make this even better. We can present country music to a mainstream audience with respect, love and humor," said Tammy Genovese, the Country Music Association's chief executive officer.

Sixty year old Mandrell, 60 thanked  her late father and longtime manager, Irby Mandrell, who died in March at age 84. She added that she was grateful her father lived to hear of her pending induction.

In heights of emotion she said, "Irby Mandrell was my manager as well as being my Daddy over my 38-year career. He taught me and guided me and directed me. It is his name, Mandrell, that I am blessed to have, and it's the gracious loving public and the fans that made that name known and made it become popular," "So tonight I thank you with my entire being for putting my and my Daddy's name into the Hall of Fame."

The three were honored in a tribute that included performances by Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss, George Jones, Josh Turner, Michael McDonald, Rodney Crowell and others. With the inductions, the Hall of Fame now has 108 members.

Barbara Mandrell started her professional career in California when she was eleven year old. She started  her national TV debut on ABC with Red Foley's "Five Star Jubilee." Her first concert tour was with Johnny and June Carter Cash, Patsy Cline and Jones.

In the year 1969 she charted her first single which is a remake of Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long," and went on to have a long run of country hits including "Midnight Oil," "Married But Not to Each Other," "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" and "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool."