2023 Memphis Music Hall of Fame Inductees

A new list of prominent music names will join the Hall of Fame during the Induction Ceremony on Thursday, October 12. Tickets are on sale for you to witness the historic night in-person beginning at $30.

Check out contributor Joe Sills' story about the 2022 Memphis Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony to see what the event is like.

Carlos “Six July” Broady - Born and bred in Memphis, Tennessee, Carlos Broady aka “Six July’’ has been producing hip-hop classics and hits since 1995. Broady has produced tracks for rap’s biggest stars and most respected artists. Garnering both commercial success and critical acclaim, Broady’s production has appeared on numerous multi-Platinum selling albums and has been nominated for eight Grammy awards, while winning the Grammy for Song of the Year along the way. Broady’s unique production style and sound have been utilized by rappers of all eras and genres alike and, today, he continues to be an innovator in the field of hip-hop production, working with everyone from the late Notorious B.I.G, to Three Six Mafia, Lil’ Kim, Diddy, Jay-Z, Kanye West, 2 Chainz, India.Arie, and others.

Cannon’s Jug Stompers (1883-1979)  - Gus Cannon was the best-known of all the jug band musicians and a seminal figure on the Memphis blues scene. His recollections have also provided us with much of our knowledge of the earliest days of the blues in the Mississippi Delta. Cannon led his Jug Stompers on banjo and jug in a historic series of dates for the Victor label in 1928-1930. The ensemble usually included a second banjoist or guitarist, one of whom often doubled on kazoo, and the legendary Noah Lewis on harmonica. The jug-band style enjoyed a revival during the folk boom of the ’50s and ’60s, resulting in an ultra-rare Gus Cannon album on Stax Records after his “Walk Right In” became the nation’s best-selling record for the Rooftop Singers in 1963. Cannon’s Victor output was also a favorite source of early blues material for the Grateful Dead.

Jimi Jamison (1951-2014)- Jimi Jamison was long associated with several bands, among them Survivor and Cobra. Jamison’s tenure with the former took the band through five Top Ten hits, appearances on numerous film soundtracks, and a handful of recordings that achieved gold and platinum status. When his venture with Survivor broke down, he established his own band. The Mississippi native released several solo albums and contributed backup vocals to such artists as the Jeff Healey Band, Krokus, and ZZ Top, and his many charity efforts included work on behalf of Tony La Russa’s ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation), the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Special Olympics, and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Don Nix- Songwriter, composer, arranger, musician, producer, author, and key figure in numerous genres of Southern blues, R&B, soul, and rock ’n’ roll. He engineered at Stax and Ardent, working with everyone from Leon Russell and Albert King to Jeff Beck and George Harrison. Author of the blues classic “Going Down,” Don Nix is one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul and rock.

Deanie Parker - Born in Mississippi, Deanie arrived at the Stax studio on McLemore Avenue in 1963 becoming one of Stax Records’ first artists. Deanie went on to perform practically every role, from singer, to composer, to liner notes writer, photographer, editor, publicist, press correspondent, documentalist, and most notably, the Soulsville Foundation’s first President and CEO, a nonprofit organization that helped build the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

The Spirit of Memphis Quartet - Founded in 1930, the Spirit of Memphis Quartet is more a continual concept than a set band, changing membership over the years as musicians drop in and out of the lineup. In fact, it’s not exactly a quartet; in the mid-1980s there were eight members, five of whom sang. The core of the group was usually lead Jethro Bledsoe, tenor Robert Reed, and bass singer Earl Malone, all of whom joined in the 1930s; Bledsoe retired in 1977, but Reed and Malone were still active with the act into the 1980s. They recorded in the quartet style for King in the early 1950s, then switched to Peacock for much of the 1950s and 1960s. They rehearsed the song “If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Another” with Elvis Presley in Graceland and were scheduled to record it with him in 1976, but the session was canceled due to Elvis being sick. The group recorded an album of soul-influenced gospel for David Evans’ indie High Water label in the mid-1980s.

Kirk Whalum - Though Kirk Whalum is one of the most successful saxophonists to be categorized under the “smooth jazz” umbrella, his work touches on gospel, soul, pop, and beyond. Born in the musical hotbed of Memphis in 1958, Whalum came from a musical family, including jazz-musician uncles and a church choirmaster father. All of this influenced Whalum’s sound, as did the R&B and rock ‘n’ roll coming out of his hometown. When he started doing session work in the early ‘80s, he played on rock albums, Christian pop records, and more. But when he started playing with jazz keyboard giant Bob James, he really hit his groove. Whalum’s 1985 solo debut LP, Floppy Disc, showcased sweet, soulful tones framed by groove-conscious, electronic-oriented production; his recordings have also celebrated the gospel of his youth and the songs of Donny Hathaway. In 1992, Whalum became part of pop history by playing the sax solo on Whitney Houston’s blockbuster “I Will Always Love You” but his home base remains smooth jazz, to which he brings his manifold influences for a rich, deeply rooted sound.