Inducting legendary and esteemed Country Music artists and industry contributors to the Country Music Hall of Fame is perhaps CMA’s greatest responsibility – and certainly one that we feel so incredibly, deeply honored to perform each year. It is with that sense of pride and honor that we recently announced the 2012 class of inductees into the Hall of Fame: Mr. Garth Brooks, Mr. Hargus “Pig” Robbins, and Ms. Connie Smith. Congrats to them all for achieving Country Music’s highest honor!

Garth Brooks was inducted into the “Modern Era Artist” category. Garth has sold more than 128 million albums and the RIAA declared him the “Male Solo Artist of the 20th Century”. He has won 11 CMA Awards, 17 American Music Awards (including being named “Artist of the Decade” for the ‘90s), two Grammy Awards, 12 People’s Choice Awards, and 5 World Music Awards, among many other honors.

Hargus ”Pig” Robbins was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the “Recording and Touring Musician” category. Throughout his career, he performed on sessions with several artists for many decades. In between sessions with other artists, he even recorded eight albums of his own. Pig won CMA Instrumentalist of the Year in 1976, CMA Musician of the Year Award in 2000, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007 with his fellow members of the Nashville “A” Team.

Connie Smith was inducted into the “Veterans Era Artist” category. Connie has received 11 Grammy nominations and was ranked 9th on CMT’s list of “The Forty Greatest Women in Country Music”. Her 53rd album that was released in 2011 was claimed by music critics nationwide as one of the best Country albums of the year.

From all of these amazing accomplishments it is easy to see why these artists were chosen to be inducted into the illustrious Country Music Hall of Fame this year.

To learn more about the Country Music Hall of Fame, and to see the full list of inductees, visit CMAworld.com.

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