History, News

Chris Stapleton to be featured in special Hall of Fame exhibit

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has set its 2020 roster of new exhibitions, aimed at entertaining and enlightening country music audiences and interpreting the ever-evolving story of the music and the people who make it.

The annual exhibition American Currents: State of the Music will return in 2020, to offer insight into the latest chapter of country’s ongoing evolution as a popular art form. In addition, the museum will devote separate exhibits to the lives and careers of Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson, award-winning powerhouse vocalist Martina McBride and Kentucky artist Chris Stapleton.

“Each of these artists achieved country music stardom in a different era, and each has a compelling story to tell about early exposure to music, about the decision to pursue music as a career and about the struggle to overcome the challenges created by such a decision,” said Museum CEO Kyle Young.

“In 2020, we will offer our visitors insight into the life of a Country Music Hall of Fame member who has been writing hits for more than 60 years; a magnificent singer who owns four CMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards; and a singer-songwriter who made his way from small clubs to sold-out arenas and four CMA Male Vocalist of the Year awards,” according to Young.

Now an annual offering, American Currents: State of the Music will open March 6, 2020. The exhibition represents the ongoing research, analysis, vigorous debate, and yes, even argument, among curators and museum staff to determine the most important developments in country music over the previous year.

The Chris Stapleton exhibition will open June 26, 2020. Before he achieved solo success with the 2015 release of triple-platinum album Traveller and the hits “Tennessee Whiskey” and “Parachute,” Stapleton proved his musical mettle as a songwriter, with more than 150 songs recorded by a diverse roster of artists including Adele, Luke Bryan, Alison Krauss and George Strait. This exhibit will explore Stapleton’s personal and musical influences and his climb to stardom, including his time in the SteelDrivers.

“I’m proud to get to share pieces of our musical journey at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum,” said Stapleton.

An exhibit exploring Martina McBride’s legacy opens Aug. 21, 2020.   Then on Nov. 20, 2020, the museum will open a special exhibition looking at the life of Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s continuing exhibition Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ‘70s, looks at the relationship between Austin, Texas, and Nashville during the 1970s, an era of freewheeling cultural and artistic exchange that skirted the status quo and changed country music. The exhibition opened in May 2018 and continues through Feb. 14, 2021.