SOURCE Hall Of Fame Member Gayle Hill Passes

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Gayle Hill

SOURCE Hall Of Fame member Gayle Hill passed away on Aug. 18 at her home in Ashland City, Tennessee. She was 90 years old.

Just three years after Hill took her first job on Music Row with producer Glen Sutton, she produced Dottie West’s famous “Country Sunshine” jingle for Coca Cola. It was the beginning of a role for Hill that integrated country music with national advertisers at a level of prominence never achieved before. Along with West, Hill also hired other stars for the Coke account including Loretta Lynn, Sonny James and the Glaser Brothers.

In 1973, she formed G Hill & Company, which was initially a PR agency that produced jingles on the side. She became a go-to-jingle producer for GMC, Miller Beer, Kraft, Rubbermaid, Stouffer’s, Pizza Hut and Mellon Bank, among others. Hill’s ability to link national advertisers with country artists and music earned her executive positions on the boards of CMA and NARAS (now the Recording Academy). In 2019, SOURCE Nashville honored Hill’s legacy by inducting her into their Hall of Fame.

Hill is preceded in death by sisters Janice Owens of Abilene and Shirley Medaris of Dallas, and brothers Delbert Berry of Glendale, Arizona and Carl Berry of Abilene. She is survived by her sister Joyce Johnson (Chuck) of Denver, her son, Bob Hill (Stephanie Reeves) of Ashland City, Tennessee. Grandchildren Lora Criner of Lebanon, Tennessee, Robert Hill of Nashville, and Gabriel Hill and Tonya Gentry of Chattanooga, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life for Hill will be held on Sept. 26 at 1025 Ed Burgess Road starting at 1:30 p.m., with fellowship immediately following the Celebration at Hill’s home.

Lorie Hollabaugh
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