The Country Radio Hall of Fame announced nine broadcasters (including seven on-air personalities and two off-air broadcasters) that will join in 2018, as artist Cassadee Pope revealed this year’s inductees during Monday’s (Feb. 5) opening ceremonies for Country Radio Seminar in Nashville.

The 2018 Country Radio Hall of Fame Class includes Radio category honorees Michael O’Malley of the Albright, O’Malley & Brenner consulting firm, and the late Lisa McKay, VP/Programming at Curtis Media/Raleigh, who doubled as PD for WQDR. The Air Personality category includes Andy Ritchie and Alison Mencer (“Andy & Alison”) formerly of WIVK/Knoxville; Steve Harmon and Scott Evans (“Harmon And Evans”) formerly of KPLX/Dallas and WXTU/Philadelphia; and Bill Barrett, Tim Fox, and Tracy Berry (“Barrett, Fox, And Berry) still active at KKNU/Eugene, Oregon.

The Country Radio Hall of Fame is dedicated to the recognition of those individuals who have made significant contributions to the radio industry over a 20-year period, 15 of which must be in the country format.

The Country Radio Hall of Fame Induction and Dinner will be held in Nashville on Wednesday, June 20, at a location to be announced soon.

Universal Music Group Nashville will bring some of country music’s top superstars to this year’s Country Radio Seminar, with the newly-revealed lineup for “Team UMG at the Ryman,” set for Feb. 6, 2018 at the Ryman Auditorium.

Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Darius Rucker and Little Big Town will be joined by Kassi Ashton, Jordan Davis, Travis Denning, Brandon Lay, Maddie & Tae, Kip Moore and Jon Pardi for this year’s event.

Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and the show will start at Noon. As in previous years, seminar registrants will receive a boxed lunch prior to the event. CRS attendees will have the option to either walk or use shuttles, provided by UMG Nashville, going from the Omni Hotel to the Ryman Auditorium between 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Registration for Country Radio Seminar 2018 is available at countryradioseminar.com for $699 per person. Single-day passes (limited to two day passes per person) are $200 per pass.

 

 

This year’s Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony will be held on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden from 3-6 p.m. ET, and livestreamed at grammy.com/live and at cbs.com.

Zac Brown, Natalie Grant and Bernie Herms, Lisa Loeb, Ledisi, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Jimmy Jam are among those presenting the first Grammy Awards of the day in nearly 70 categories. Performers during the Premiere Ceremony include Body Count, India.Arie, Jazzmeia Horn, Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’, and Stile Antico. Singer, composer, and instrumentalist Paul Shaffer will host the ceremony and will serve as musical director while his World’s Most Dangerous Band will serve as the house band.

Meanwhile, the Recording Academy has also extended its partnership with Westwood One, with Westwood One continuing to be the Recording Academy’s official radio broadcast partner.

Westwood One will also create a two-hour GRAMMYs 60th Anniversary Nomination Special and distribute the broadcast across three key music formats airing Jan. 20 and 21, each hosted by New York City on-air talent. The Top 40/Rhythmic, Hot AC, and AC versions will be hosted by Jayde Donovan from Todd & Jayde Mornings on WPLJ-FM/New York and the Urban/Urban AC version will be hosted by La Loca from WNBM-FM/New York.

Westwood One will also air a week-long series of musical performances and interviews, live from Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17, at Penn Plaza. Pop station 95.5 WPLJ and New York’s only country station, NASH FM 94.7, will be hosting private performances all week by Bleachers, Marshmello, and this year’s GRAMMY-nominated artist Midland, among others. A complete list of performances will be announced soon.

The 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast live following the Premiere Ceremony on the CBS Television Network from 7:30–11 p.m. ET/4:30–8 p.m. PT.