Australian Country Music Hands of Fame
The Country Music Hands of Fame was established in Tamworth in 1977 to honour individuals who have made a significant and ongoing contribution to Australian country music. The imprinting is held annually on the second Saturday morning of the TCMF.
The Country Music Hands of Fame Cornerstone is a free experience, accessible to view all-year-round, at the corner of Kable Avenue and Brisbane Street, Tamworth.
THE PROCESS TO NOMINATE
Six inductees are determined by a specialist panel, on behalf of Tamworth Regional Council, and they are invited to place their hand in cement. Applications will be considered and included in the annual discussions. Send a concise biography, list of achievements and photograph of the person for consideration To: trc@tamworth.nsw.gov.au with Subject: Hands Of Fame – (person’s name) no later than 30 June, annually.
1977
Johnny Ashcroft
Buddy Bishop
Rick and Thel Carey
Stan Coster OAM
Rex Dallas
Smoky Dawson MBE (C) AM
Slim Dusty MBE (C) OAM
Alan and Russell Hawking
Kenny Kitching
Reg Lindsay OAM
Heather McKean OAM
Joy McKean OAM
Tex Morton
Slim Newton
Nev Nicholls
Suzanne Prentice OBE
Shorty Ranger OAM
Buddy Williams
George Xanthos
1978
John Ashe
Arthur Blanch
Lily Connors
Trevor Day
Mike Hayes
Pete Hayes
Frank Ifield OAM
Ross Kettle
Bill Kettle
Kevin King
Jimmy Little AO
Johnny Mac
Geoff Mack OAM
George Mack
Joan Martin
Tim McNamara
Rocky Page OAM
Pete Skoglund
Les Wilson
Brian Young OAM
1979
Jewel Blanch
Geoff Brown
Emma Hannah
Col Hardy OAM
Anne Kirkpatrick
Paul Lester
Chad Morgan OAM
Gordon Parsons
Les Partell
Reg Poole OAM
Keith Riordan
The Schneider Sisters
Dennis Siddall
Jean Stafford
Diana Trask
Trevor Warner
The Webb Brothers
John Williamson OAM
1980
Charlie Bellert
Lindsay Butler OAM
Pee Wee Clark
Rex Franklin
Johnny Greenwood
Johnny Heap
Ellie Lavelle
Athol McCoy
Dusty Rankin
Lucky Starr
Shirley Thoms
Barry Thornton
1981
Tex Banes OAM
Johnny Chester
Chris Duffy
Ted Egan OAM AM
Terry Gordon OAM
Ray Kernaghan
Arch Kerr
John McSweeney
Harry and Wilga Williams
1982
Allan Caswell
Lee Conway
Garth Gibson
Grand Junction
Bill Kelly
Joan Ridgeway
Saltbush
Tex Williams
1983
Desree-IIona Crawford OAM
Colin Huddleston
Eddie Low OM
Buster Noble
Kevin Shegog
1984
Bob Clark
Joe Daly
Nola Hirst
Colin James OAM
Mike McClellan
George Payne
Patsy Riggir QSM
Judy Stone AM
1985
Dick Carr
Sister Dorrie
The Flying Emus
Don Gresham
Jan Kelly
Noel Parlane
Jonnie Russell
1986
Eric Bogle AM
Michael Cooke
Jacqueline Hall
Maurie Lawson
Norm Scott
Dusty Spittle
Mark Von Berto
1987
Ian Castles
Norm Drage
The Le Garde Twins
Bill Mullin
Mike O’Malley
Harold Williams
1988
Dorothy Barry
Lorna Barry
Margaret Hickey
Kaye Hickey
Deniese Morrison
‘Cowboy’ Bob Purtell
1989
Donna Fisk
Wayne Horsburgh
Tommy Mack
Norma O’Hara Murphy
Ken Robertson
1990
Olive Bice OAM
Owen Blundell
Norm Bodkin
Lynette Guest
Lawrie Minson
Terry Smith
Bill Walker
Bryan Watkins
1991
Auriel Andrew OAM
Al Black
Evelyn Bury
Phil Emmanuel OAM
Barrie Holmes
John ‘Doc’ Riley
1992
Robbie Brown
Nell Carter
Tex Hamilton
Jack Munting
Michael Roycroft
1993
Charley Boyter OAM
Ian Betteridge
‘Pixie’ Paul Jenkins
Bev McShanag
Buddy Weston
1994
Tracy Coster
Gay Kayler
John Minson AM
Pat Ware
John R Williams
1995
Ernie Bridge OAM AM
Bernie Burnett
Graeme Connors
Tommy Emmanuel CGP AM
Barry Forrester
Glenn Jones
1996
Roger Corbett
The Dirtwater Band
Mick Finn
Christina George
Lee Kernaghan OAM
John Laws OBE CBE
Brian Letton
Dobe Newton
1997
Garry Adams
Anne Conway OAM
Jim Haynes OAM
Gina Jeffreys
Geoff and Laurie Jones
Ian B MacLeod
Ron Peters
Johnny Rivers
Michel Rose
Eric Scott OAM
Keith Urban
1998
Kenny Arnott
Berice Blanch
Bill Chambers
Di Chambers
Kasey Chambers
Nash Chambers
Craig Giles
Ricky and Tammy
Bill Robertson
Keith Russell
1999
Colin Buchanan
Troy Cassar-Daley
Tex and Mary Croft
The Crosby Sisters
Bluey Francis
Tania Kernaghan
Jeff McCormack
Rod McCormack
Claude Woodbridge
2000
Greg Champion
Beccy Cole
Max McCauley
Tommy Miller
Garth Porter
Carole Sturtzel
Gus Williams OAM
The Wolverines
2001
Adam Brand
Darren Coggan
Col Elliott
Michael Fix
Felicity Urquhart
2002
Bullamakanka
Shanley Del
Max Ellis OAM
Peter Horan
Grant Luhrs
2003
Andrew Clermont
Pat Drummond
Kevin and Joyce Durdin
Adam Harvey
Paul McCloud
2004
Rickie Jones
Roger Knox
Melinda Schneider
Brendon Walmsley
Jim Wesley
2005
Rocky Cameron
Gene Bradley Fisk
Colleen Honeyman
Keith Jamieson OAM
Wally McQuaker
Ross Murphy
Lorraine Pfitzner OAM
Sara Storer
2006
Carter & Carter
Ernie Constance
Pete Denahy
Waverly Jackson
Shaza Leigh
Lenore Miller-Somerset
2007
James Blundell
Freddy Bowen
Ken Cameron
Peter Coad OAM
Col Edmonds
Eric Watson OAM
2008
Mick Antonio
Kevin Knapp
Karen Lynne
Jim Muir
Clem Rogers
Wally Sparrow
Warren H Williams
2009
Dally Croft
Jim Hermel
Ian Quinn
The McClymonts
2010
Clelia Adams
Rod Coe
Nick Erby
Susan Jarvis
Tom Maxwell
‘Slim’ Jim Pike
Rodney Walker
2011
Leslie Avril
The Coad Sisters
Harry Frost
Bruce McCumstie
2012
Gavan Arden
John Grills
Stuie French
2013
Alan Clement
Frankie and Karen Johns
Debbie Parry
2014
Bob Howe
Dianne Lindsay
Graham Rodger
2015
Alwyn Aurisch
Zeta Burns
Dean Perrett
2016
Jeff Brown
Drew McAlister
Patti Morgan
Steve Newton
2017
Ginger Cox
The Davidson Brothers
Gary Ellis
Amber Lawrence
2018
Don Costa
Paul Costa
Kevin Sporer
Nev Molloy
Peter Simpson
Hugo Fitz-Herbert OAM
2019
Aleyce Simmonds
Lindsay Waddington
Gina Timms
Ashley Cook
Robyn McIntosh
Ross McGregor
Ron Adsett
Dr Rosie Adsett
2020
Catherine Britt
Travis Collins
The Gottani Sisters
Eddie Tapp
2022
Dennis ‘Fibber’ Parker
John Elliott
Kirsty Lee Akers
Luke O’Shea
Lyn Bowtell
Roo Arcus
2023
Kevin Bennett
Kristy Cox
Duncan Toombs
Tom Curtain
Wanita
2024
Shane Nicholson
Lonnie Lee
Elaine Pitt
Biographies edited/created by Anna Rose.
With grateful thanks to:
The many helpful artists, musicians, publicists, managers, spouses, children, friends and family members of the Hands of Fame inductees, for striving to correct errors and help ensure an accurate account in each instance. Where no confirmation could be obtained from friends, colleagues or family, other sources were used including Wikipedia, several discography websites, reference books and the excellent NZ site, www.audioculture.co.nz All care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of details in these profiles, but no responsibility will be taken by the publisher for errors.