Entertainment

Op-Ed: Dottie West deserves 2016 induction into Country Hall of Fame

Published

March 20, 2016

West may have passed away in 1991, but she has left an impressive body of musical work and a respected legacy. She had 63 of her radio singles chart on the Billboard country charts. She was a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 27 years and 23 of her studio albums charted on the Billboard albums charts.

She was nominated for Grammy awards 17 times, and she holds four BMI Songwriting awards to her credit and two Country Music Association (CMA) awards. She was the recipient of the inaugural Grammy award for “Best Female Country Vocal Performance” for “Here Comes My Baby.”

West ranked No. 23 on Country Music Television’s (CMT) list of “40 Greatest Women of Country,” and is long overdue for this honor. Several of country music’s biggest superstars have championed West for induction into this Hall of Fame, including Kenny Rogers.

Her music has influenced such female country performers as Crystal Gayle, Lynn Anderson, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette.

In this article:Country, Dottie West, Hall of Fame

Written By Markos Papadatos

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 20,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.