MEMPHIS, Tenn. (CelebrityAccess) — The Blues Foundation announced the inductees Blues Hall of Fame, with luminaries such as Aretha Franklin, Count Basie and Booker T. & the MGs in the class of 2019.
The five performers for the 2019 class are the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, the King of Swing Count Basie, Vaudeville blues legend Ida Cox, Texas-born guitarist Pee Wee Crayton, and Stax recording artists Booker T. & The MGs.
Also joining the Blues Hall in 2019 is Folkways founder and label exec Moses “Moe” Asch, and landmark recordings including Elmore James’ 1965 album The Sky Is Crying and his song “Shake Your Moneymaker”, Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone”, Ray Charles’ iconic “I Got a Woman”, and Bessie Smith’s signature version of “The St. Louis Blues”.
Additionally, the Blues Hall’s choice for the Classic of Blues Literature is the historical work Lost Delta Found: Rediscovering the Fisk University-Library of Congress Coahoma County Study, 1941-1942, which was compiled by John W. Work, Lewis Wade Jones, and Samuel C. Adams, Jr.
Taking place during Blues Music Week, the Blues Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held May 8 at the Halloran Centre (225 South Main Street, Memphis). A cocktail reception kicks off the festivities at 5:30 p.m. before the Ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person.
As part of the Induction Ceremony, the Blues Hall of Fame Museum is securing items and personal effects representing each of the new inductees, and those artifacts will be installed and available for viewing beginning May 8.
