Since making her first entry on Billboard’s country chart in 1993, Shania Twain has earned seven No. 1 Country Airplay hits, three RIAA Diamond-certified albums (1995’s The Woman in Me, 1997’s Come On Over and 2002’s Up!) and was named the Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year in 1999. Her groundbreaking career and female-empowering music was recently chronicled in the Netflix documentary Not Just a Girl.
Later this year, Twain will twice be honored for her craft of songwriting — as previously announced, she will be honored with the ACM Poet’s Award during the ACM Honors on Aug. 24. Later this year, she will also be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Joining Twain will be Steve Wariner, Hillary Lindsey, Gary Nicholson and David Malloy as the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Class of 2022, as announced by Sarah Cates, chair of the organization’s board of directors, as well as Mark Ford, the organization’s executive director.
“This is always one of my favorite days of the year — when we announced our incoming class and begin their journey to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala in October,” Cates said during the inductee announcement. “I’m especially gratified to note that — for the first time since 2009 — two of our inductees-elect are women.” Kye Fleming and Tammy Wynette were among the inductees in 2009.
This year’s five inductees-elect will join the 223 members the organization has inducted since its launch in 1970, including writers such as Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Don and Phil Everly, Harlan Howard, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Bill Monroe, Bobby Braddock, Don Schlitz and Cindy Walker.
Twain, who has written or co-written the majority of her own hits, will be honored as the newest member of the contemporary songwriter/artist category. The Canada native earned her first No. 1 Billboard country hit in 1995 with the two-week chart-leader “Any Man of Mine,” and has earned seven No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits, including “Love Gets Me Every Time,” “You’re Still the One” and “Come On Over” (the latter two earned Grammy honors for best country song in 1998 and 1999, respectively). Twain was not in attendance at the inductee announcement.
The inductee in the veteran songwriter-artist category this year is Wariner. In addition to his talents as a vocalist and an in-demand instrumentalist, Warner has written many of his own recorded songs, including “You Can Dream of Me,” “Where Did I Go Wrong,” and “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” which was named single and song of the year by the Country Music Association in 1998. Wariner also co-wrote Keith Urban’s hit “Where the Blacktop Ends,” the Clint Black hit “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” and his own collaborative hit with Garth Brooks on “Longneck Bottle.”
Wariner spoke glowingly in tribute to the late country singer-songwriter Dottie West, who gave him his big break.
“I worked with Dottie for about three years. I would get on the bus, and she would ask me, ‘What did you write this week? I want to hear your songs.’ She was like a teacher, so I tell people I went to the Dottie West School of Music,” Wariner said. He also smartly noted that West became the first female country artist to win a Grammy, for her self-penned song “Here Comes My Baby.” He added, “This is like a dream come true. There’s so many other writers that probably deserve this more than I do, but none that will appreciate it any more, I can guarantee you that.”
“Lindsey and Nicholson will be inducted under the contemporary songwriter category. Lindsey is known for penning hits including Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” (which earned Lindsey a Grammy win), “Church Bells” “So Small” and “Wasted,” as well as Martina McBride’s “Blessed,” Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and Lady Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way,” from the A Star Is Born soundtrack.
“This is just absolutely mind-blowing to me,” Lindsey said during the inductee announcement press conference. “Thank you, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, for this incredible honor. I am extremely humbled to be part of this year’s class, truly. Just the thought of my name even being thrown into the hat is mind-blowing to me. Thank you guys for always taking care of all of our songwriters and artists in the way that you do, with such a beautiful tradition like this.”
Nicholson has penned songs including Vince Gill’s “One More Last Chance” and Don Williams’ “That’s the Thing About Love.”
“I’ve been to Hall of Fame induction ceremonies through the years and just never imagined that…this would actually occur,” Nicholson said. “I am a product of this environment, this community of amazing songwriters and publishers. It was that synergy, that community that shaped me. I had not co-written before I got here and co-writing became the thing to do. I learned so much from every one of my collaborators and still do learn from all of them, but the main thing I want to hold up is the value of our songwriting community. It’s amazing. Thank you so much for this amazing honor.”
Malloy will be inducted under the veteran songwriter category, and is known for his work on a string of hits for including Eddie Rabbitt, including “I Love a Rainy Night,” “Suspicions” (also recorded by Tim McGraw), “Gone Too Far” and “Drivin’ My Life Away,” as well as Kenny Rogers’s “Love Will Turn You Around.”
The announcement took place Tuesday (Aug. 2) at Columbia Studio A in Nashville, with the official induction set to take place during the 52nd anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Sunday, Oct. 30, at Nashville’s Music City Center.