Shania Twain, Phil Vassar Among Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Nominees

Shania Twain, Phil Vassar, Brad Paisley and Toby Keith are among the nominees for the 2021 class of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. One of the artists will be inducted during the official ceremony on November 1, along with two nominated songwriters, with Rhett Akins, Buddy Cannon, Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Mary Ann Kennedy, David Malloy, Frank J. Myers and Tia Sillers among the nominees.

“We were forced to postpone our 50th Anniversary celebration last year, so this will be our ‘50/51’ party—celebrating two years and two classes in a special double-sized event,” NaSHOF Executive Director Mark Ford says. “We congratulate all of this year’s nominees and look forward to next month, when we will announce those who will be inducted as members of the Class of 2021.”

Each of the nominees earned their first Top 20 hit at least 20 years ago, and continued to record hit songs in the years since then. Twain co-wrote all of her big hits, including “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” “Honey I’m Home,” “From This Moment On” and more. Vassar has written his own hits, including “Just Another Day in Paradise” and “Last Day of My Life,” along with songs recorded by Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Alan Jackson and more.

Paisley wrote many of his own hit singles, including “He Didn’t Have to Be,” “We Danced,” “Mud on the Tires” and more, while Keith wrote his own hits like “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “Wish I Didn’t Know” and “Who’s Your Daddy,” among others.

Steve Earle, Bobbie Gentry, Kent Blazy, Brett James and Spooner Oldham will also be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame this year. They were originally slated to be inducted last year, with that ceremony forced to be postponed due to the pandemic.