Industry Leader Bill Ivey Passes

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Bill Ivey. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Bill Ivey, the Country Music Hall of Fame executive who became the head of the Recording Academy, the American Folklore Society and the National Endowment for the Arts, has passed away.

Ivey, 81, was the Hall of Fame’s CEO from 1971 through 1997. He died in Nashville on Friday, Nov. 7.

While at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bill Ivey founded its Library & Archives, built the museum’s collections, acquired Hatch Show Print and purchased the Bob Pinson Recorded Sound Collection. His leadership elevated the institution from being a modest tourist attraction to being the world’s center for the preservation and study of country’s many styles, past and present.

Born in Detroit in 1944, Ivey earned an undergraduate history degree at the University of Michigan, then an M.A. in folklore and ethnomusicology at Indiana University. He was also an acoustic-guitar player. He was doing graduate work toward a Ph.D. in 1971, when he decided to apply for a job as director of the library at the Country Music Foundation (CMF), the umbrella nonprofit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The Museum had opened on Music Row in 1967, and the board of the Country Music Association (then running the CMF) determined four years later that the Museum should have a proper library and research center.

In August, 1971, Ivey was hired to oversee the development of the library. He so impressed the CMF’s board that he was promoted to director of the CMF by the fall of that year. During the next 25 years, he made the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum a key player in the music industry as well as Nashville’s burgeoning tourism industry. Ivey also set a rigorous standard that ensured the collections of artifacts, recordings and library materials documenting country music would be unmatched. He presided over two building expansions and secured national accreditation for the museum, which it has maintained.

In December 1997, President Bill Clinton selected Bill Ivey to be the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. While there, Ivey established the NEA “Songs of the Century” project to educate students about the history of American popular music. He laid the groundwork for better relations with Congress and led to the funding of his “Challenge America” and “Creative Links, Positive Alternatives for Youth” initiatives designed to foster stronger ties between arts organizations, community groups and federal agencies. He also accompanied First Lady Hillary Clinton to the Grammy Awards when she won in the Spoken Word category.

After four years of serving the NEA in Washington, Ivey returned to Music City. He directed the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University and served on the faculty there from 2002 to 2012.

Bill Ivey rose through the volunteer ranks of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) to become its trustee and two-time national chairman (in 1981-83 and again in 1989-91). He remained a force on the Grammy organization’s board of directors for many years. Ivey was also elected president of the American Folklore Society.

In 1989, he helped found the Leadership Music nonprofit networking forum and served for several years as that organization’s discussion facilitator. He also wrote liner notes for historical reissue albums as well as scholarly articles. In later years, Bill Ivey wrote three books exploring the intersections of popular culture, politics and public policy.

In a social media post, the CMF eulogized Bill Ivey: “He was a challenging thinker who helped cement the reputation of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as a significant and authoritative music history center. His impact on the Museum and the wider arts world is incalculable.”

No funeral information has been released.

Robert K Oermann
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