Kenny Chesney Leads 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame Class

Kenny Chesney, June Carter Cash, and producer-musician Tony Brown are the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Nashville institution announced the 2025 inductees during a press conference Tuesday morning in the Hall’s rotunda, where the plaques honoring the new class will be installed later this year.

Chesney is this year’s Modern Era Artist inductee. Known for infusing country music with carefree, beachy vibes, Chesney has become a live touring powerhouse, headlining football stadiums for more than two decades. Since launching his career in 1993, the East Tennessee native has had country radio hits with songs like “She’s Got It All,” “How Forever Feels,” and “The Good Stuff,” and has given his fan base — the No Shoes Nation — its easygoing soundtrack: “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” “When the Sun Goes Down,” “Living in Fast Forward,” and “Beer in Mexico” aren’t just singalongs for Chesney fans but a way of life. He’ll release his memoir, Heart Life Music, in November and, this summer, will become the first country artist to headline the Sphere in Las Vegas.

June Carter Cash is being inducted as the Veterans Era Artist inductee. Known primarily for her collaborations like “Jackson” and “It Ain’t Me Babe” with her husband, Johnny Cash (who was inducted into the Hall in 1980), June Carter Cash has also released music under her own name, with a string of songs in the Fifties and Sixties and her own albums, including the solo debut Appalachian Pride in 1975 and her final LP, 2004’s Wildwood Flower. She is also responsible for co-writing one of country music’s most famous songs: the Cash solo hit “Ring of Fire.”

Brown, a pianist who toured in Elvis Presley’s TCB Band and in the groups of Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the Non-Performer category as a producer. He’s overseen albums by George Strait, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Steve Earle, Marty Stuart, Trisha Yearwood, and the Mavericks, and has more than 100 Number One singles to his credit as producer. He recently produced Dee White’s Heart Talkin’ album and is responsible for helping create country’s signature Nineties sound.

The new class will be officially inducted during a ceremony this fall in Nashville. Last year’s class included Toby Keith, John Anderson, and guitarist James Burton.