Graceland steward Jack Soden and soul man Wilson Pickett among 9 named to Memphis Music Hall of Fame
Twelve years ago, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of 25 luminaries at a rousing ceremony, honoring legends spanning generations and genres, from Elvis Presley to Three 6 Mafia
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Music Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of 25 luminaries at a rousing ceremony 12 years ago, honoring legends spanning generations and genres, from Elvis Presley to ZZ Top to Three 6 Mafia.
In later years, dozens of other musicians who recorded, taught and performed in Memphis secured their place in the Hall of Fame in this cradle of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll — Justin Timberlake, Tina Turner, Carla Thomas, to name a few.
This year, it will be inducting its 100th member of the Memphis music landscape with a class of nine, including soul singer Wilson Pickett, rapper, producer and songwriter Jazze Pha, and Jack Soden, who teamed up with Elvis' former wife Priscilla Presley to open Graceland as a tourist attraction in 1982. That was five years after the singer and actor died in Memphis at the age of 42.
Today, Graceland, Elvis' former home-turned-museum, is an American tourist mainstay, annually drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to this city by the Mississippi River.
