People: Country hall of fame adds three inductees
Ronnie Milsap, the blind country-soul singer and pianist, joined bluegrass vocalist Mac Wiseman and the late songwriter Hank Cochran as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
At a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, country artists Vince Gill, Martina McBride and Hunter Hayes honored the inductees Sunday with tribute performances at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Steeped in Appalachian music but classically trained, Milsap, 71, first began playing with Elvis Presley in Memphis before developing into a country singer with 40 No. 1 country hits and six Grammy Awards.
Wiseman, 89, born in Crimora, Virginia, started off playing with bluegrass legends such as the Foggy Mountain Boys and Bill Monroe before becoming a solo artist. He also was a record label executive and a founder of the Country Music Association in 1958.
One of country’s most successful songwriters, Cochran’s standards include “I Fall To Pieces,” made famous by Patsy Cline, “Make The World Go Away,” recorded by Eddy Arnold, and “The Chair,” performed by George Strait.
Cochran, originally from rural Mississippi, died in 2010 at 79.
O’Neill helping fund Traficant movie
Ed O’Neill is supporting an effort to raise funds to complete a documentary about a colorful congressman in his native northeast Ohio.
Filmmaker Eric Murphy says he has a crowdfunding campaign to raise $17,500 to finish production and add a new ending to “Traficant: Congressman of Crimetown.” Former congressman James A. Traficant Jr. died last month at age 73 following a tractor accident on his family’s farm near Youngstown.
O’Neill was interviewed for the documentary and added a narrative voice. Backers who pledge at least $2,500 get lunch with O’Neill, the veteran actor who currently stars in the TV comedy series “Modern Family.” The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reports they also will get co-producer credit.
O’Neill has signed books, artwork and other items for $1,000 pledges.
The birthday bunch
Actress Nanette Fabray is 94. Actor-comedian John Cleese is 75. Actress-singer Kelly Osbourne is 30.