Last night during a reception at the Halloran Centre, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame (MMHOF) announced eight new inductees. The 2022 roster includes Memphis-born blues and jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator Fred Ford; Grammy-winning producer and engineer Jim Gaines; producer, arranger, songwriter, author and keyboardist Booker T. Jones; onetime American Sound Studios keyboardist and Grammy-winning singer Ronnie Milsap; former chair of Elvis Presley Enterprises Priscilla Presley; Sun Records musician, singer, songwriter, and producer Billy Lee Riley; Grammy-winning singer and Stax Records star Mavis Staples; and Jerry Lee Lewis’ drummer and Sun Records producer J.M. Van Eaton.
“This year’s list is as diverse as Memphis music itself,” John Doyle, Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum and MMHOF executive director, noted in a statement. “Rock, soul, blues, rockabilly, even country permeate the 2022 roster, with many of these icons still doing what they do … creating music.”
The announcement reception also featured the world premiere of a one-hour television program celebrating the 10th anniversary of the MMHOF, scheduled to air nationally Thursday, March 31st, on the Circle Network.
Bringing the MMHOF’s list of total honorees to 90, the 2022 inductees will be celebrated in a concert and induction ceremony this fall. The Memphis Music Hall of Fame was started in 2012, and is administered by the Smithsonian-developed Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum. In 2015, the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum also developed the Memphis Music Hall of Fame Museum, which opened that year in the former Lansky Bros. Clothing Store building. Each year, a local and national Nominating Committee studies the Hall’s current roster, artists considered and recommended over previous years, and a comprehensive catalog of Memphis musicians to discuss and determine each year’s inductees.
“It is difficult,” writes Doyle, “because there are literally hundreds of deserving Memphis musicians yet to be honored, each of whom deserves it, and with new musical candidates emerging annually. Some have more name recognition, Grammys, or records sold, but we maintain, in regards to Memphis’ world-changing musical status, the last inductee honored will be as important as the first inductee honored 10 years ago.”