5 Mississippi legends to be formally inducted

Published 11:00 am Friday, August 28, 2020

A formal induction ceremony for the third group of honorees for The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (The MAX) Hall of Fame will take place Thursday, Sept. 3 in downtown Meridian.

Five iconic Mississippians will be inducted during the festivities, which are open only to the honorees’ family and invited guests. The inductees are: country music singer and songwriter Tammy Wynette; singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Bo Diddley; singer-songwriter, musician and pianist Jerry Lee Lewis; poet and author Margaret Walker Alexander; and blues singer, songwriter and guitarist John Lee Hooker.

According to Jerome Trahan, director of marketing at The MAX, the induction ceremony for the 2019 Hall of Fame honorees was delayed due to the pandemic.

“The selection of these five individuals who have enriched our culture through their talents as performers as well as writers was announced last summer,” Trahan noted. “There were plans to recognize them at a later day, however, this had to rescheduled.”

The induction ceremony will be held at the MSU Riley Center, where awards will be presented to the honorees’ family members. The celebration will then move to The MAX for the revealing of the inductees’ inclusion in the Walk of Fame.

“Their stars will be located in front of The MAX (building),” Trahan noted.

A reception, also only open to family members and invited guests, will be held in the Hall of Fame Rotunda. At this time, photos of the new inductees will be unveiled.

Following are brief bios of the honorees:

• Tammy Wynette, Tremont. Wynette was a country singer and songwriter. Called the “First Lady of Country Music,” she is among country music’s best-known and best-selling female singer-songwriters.

Wynette’s iconic hit “Stand By Your Man” is one of the best-selling singles in the history of country music. She was named by CMT as one of the three Greatest Women of Country Music (with Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn). For nearly two decades, Wynette held the record for winning consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the Country Music Association (CMA). She was the first female country artist to sell a million albums and is in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

• Bo Diddley, McComb. Diddley was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. His signature rhythms became a cornerstone of modern hip-hop, rock, and pop music.

Many artists have named him as a musical inspiration including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. He is a Grammy winner, and a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and Blues Hall of Fame. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. One of Diddley’s musical inspirations was John Lee Hooker, also a 2019 honoree. 

• Jerry Lee Lewis, Nesbit. Lewis is a singer-songwriter and pianist and known as a pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music. He developed his signature musical style during his younger years in Mississippi as part of the new and emerging rock and roll movement.

Lewis’ most iconic hits include “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire.” Lewis began his career at Sun Records (Memphis) and became one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He is a Grammy winner and recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and Memphis Music Hall of Fame.

• Margaret Walker, Jackson. Walker, a poet and author, is best known for her 1966 novel “Jubilee” and her award-winning poem “For My People,” written as part of her involvement in the Chicago Black Renaissance, an African-American literary movement.

For 30 years, Walker served as a literature professor at Jackson State University, where she founded the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People (now the Margaret Walker Center) and served as the institute’s director. She is also the namesake for the Jackson Hinds Library System’s Margaret Walker Alexander Library. Her works are considered among the most influential and important in African-American literature. She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1989.

• John Lee Hooker, Clarksdale. Hooker was a blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a Delta sharecropper, Hooker developed a unique style of guitar playing prominently featured in some of his best-known songs such as “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and “Boom Boom.”

Hooker is a five-time Grammy Award winner and an inductee in both the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.

The 2019 Hall of Fame inductees were nominated by a statewide committee comprised of arts and entertainment experts representing various genres and art forms. Committee members are an independent group of electors selected by the (MAX) board who are not members or affiliated with the board and are from various locations throughout the state of Mississippi. Each has an area of expertise — i.e. literature, visual arts — which they bring to the table, Trahan said.

Nominees are selected from a comprehensive list of influential men and women who have had an extraordinary and lasting impact as musicians, actors, media personalities, visual artists, culinary artists, authors and other talented artists and entertainers who trace their roots to Mississippi.

Since the opening of The MAX, two previous Hall of Fame classes have been designated: 2017 and 2018. The five new inductees join current Hall of Fame members: Jimmy Buffett, Willie Morris, Charley Pride, William Eggleston, Howling’ Wolf, Walter Anderson, William Faulkner, Morgan Freeman, John Grisham, Jim Henson, Robert Johnson, James Earl Jones, B.B. King, George Ohr, Elvis Presley, Leontyne Price, Jimmie Rodgers, Sela Ward, Muddy Waters, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Oprah Winfrey and Richard Wright.