The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announced its new class of inductees for 2022, which includes Canadian superstar Shania Twain. She wrote 22 of her own songs that ended up in the Top 20 of the Billboard charts.
Twain, who now lives in Switzerland, was the only inductee who didn’t attend Tuesday’s announcement in Columbia Studio A. The rest include Steve Wariner, Hillary Lindsey, Gary Nicholson and David Malloy.
“I’m especially gratified to note that — for the first time since 2009 — two of our inductees-elect are women,” said board chair Sarah Cates, who is also the first woman to lead the Hall of Fame board. In some recent years, there have been no women inducted. And, in 2018, no women were even nominated for induction.
Hillary Lindsay’s first No. 1 hit was “Blessed” by Martina McBride. The Georgia-native moved to Nashville in 1994 to attend Belmont University and signed her first publishing deal her senior year. She also penned “Jesus Take The Wheel” by Carrie Underwood and “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town.
Gary Nicholson wrote hits for Don Williams and Vince Gill. David Malloy penned successful tunes for Tim McGraw and Kenny Rogers.
Steve Wariner, who is an artist himself, crafted many of his own songs, including “Holes In The Floor Of Heaven.”
At the announcement, Wariner reminisced about touring with Dottie West, who pushed him to write new songs every week while on tour.
“I tell people I went to the Dottie West School of Music,” he said, adding that West was the first female artist to ever win a Grammy in 1965 for a performance of “Here Comes My Baby,” which she co-wrote. “So, that’s girl power — way a long time ago.”
West, who died in 1991, has not been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The five-member class of 2022 will be officially inducted at a ceremony in October and join the 223 members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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