Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame gets a home

Nashville Songwriters
Hall of Fame gets a home

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has plenty of big names, from Hank Williams Sr. to Bob Dylan to Dolly Parton. And now, finally, it has a home. The Hall of Fame will share space in a historic Music Row building with students enrolled in a new songwriting major at Belmont University, officials with the hall, the university and the Mike Curb Family Foundation said Thursday. “I’ve been a member for many years,” said Parton, who attended the announcement. “It’s nice to know now we have a home.” Parton, whose hits include “I Will Always Love You,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “Jolene,” told of her early days in Nashville in the ’60s when she hung out with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and other struggling songwriters. “I saw some great songs come to life, not always knowing if we were going to have a meal the next day,” she said. The building on Music Square East was once home to the Quonset Hut where Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Marty Robbins and Sonny James recorded; and of Columbia Studio A where Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings and Parton cut records. Columbia and Epic Records also formerly had offices there. Most recently, Sony Music Nashville occupied the two-story brick structure.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Mickey Rooney is 87. Actress Margaret Pellegrini (“The Wizard of Oz”) is 84. Singer Julio Iglesias is 64. Actress-singer Mary Kay Place is 60. Rock star Bruce Springsteen is 58. Actor Jason Alexander is 48. Country musician Don Herron (BR549) is 45. Singer Ani DiFranco is 37. Recording executive Jermaine Dupri is 35.