Three first members
The Country Music Association created the Hall of Fame in 1961 and named its first three members: the singer Jimmie Rodgers, the songwriter and publisher Fred Rose and Hank Williams. Roy Acuff, elected in 1962, was the first living member.
The Hall of Fame Rotunda
Each member is honoured with a bronze plaque in the museum’s Rotunda, arranged like notes on a musical staff. The title of the Carter Family song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” runs around the interior.
Four tiers of sound
Outside, stone bars on the Rotunda wall stand for the notes of the same song, and the four disc-shaped tiers of its roof evoke the evolution of recorded sound, from the 78 and the vinyl LP to the 45 and the CD.



