Kenny Chesney and Miranda Lambert Perform In Honor Of Joe Galante at Country Music Hall Of Fame Medallion Ceremony

Music executive Joe Galante was officially inducted as the 147th member of the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday evening (Oct. 16) during the star-studded Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater.

Galante, who served as the head of some of Nashville’s top record labels, once signed artists such as Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans, Vince Gill, The Judds, Martina McBride, Lorrie Morgan, K.T. Oslin, Carrie Underwood, Keith Whitley, Chris Young, and others.

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He was included in the non-performer category and honored with star-studded performances from Alabama (“My Home’s In Alabama”), Miranda Lambert (“White Liar”), and Kenny Chesney (“The Good Stuff”). 

“I thought on my way here about the people that we meet when we first come to town, and [how] you can go down a lot of different roads…I was trying to think about what my life would be like had I not met you. And it ain’t good,” Chesney joked as Galante laughed. 

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Kix Brooks was on hand for the Medallion presentation and shared his gratitude for Galante, who was always in his corner. 

“Sometimes it takes a guy like Joe Galante, whose life depends on us, to tell us that what we’re doing is magic, who sometimes has more faith in us than we may have in ourselves that day,” Brooks said. 

During his acceptance speech, Galante thanked those who helped him along the way and promised he would remember the night forever. 

“I can assure you, I will not need any photographs or clippings to remind me of tonight.”

Galante was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside Keith Whitley in the Modern Era Artist category and Jerry Lee Lewis in the Veterans Era Artist category. 

Keith Whitley’s country music career was short-lived, as only four years seven months and 10 days passed between his first appearance on the Billboard Country singles charts and his sudden death on May 9, 1989. His music, however, has lived on for decades and continues to impact and influence artists and fans to this day.

Throughout his career, Whitley earned five No.1 singles and had a total of 19 singles on the Billboard country charts.

Jerry Lee Lewis, who is the only living member of the million-dollar quartet consisting of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, had 28 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Country Airplay chart which spanned across four decades.

The 87-year-old is also a GRAMMY award-winner and a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Lewis’ best-known songs include “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” which is now part of the National Recording Registry, and “Great Balls of Fire,” a song that is in the Grammy Hall of Fame.