LEXINGTON — Loretta Lynn has been honored hundreds of times during her nearly five-decade career in country music.

        Being named to the inaugural class of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, however, holds a special place in her heart.

Country music legend Loretta Lynn (center) is greeted by Gov. Paul Patton and his wife, Judi, before the start of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame inaugural induction ceremony Thursday night. (Associated Press photo) | ZOOM |

        “We're home, ain't we,” Ms. Lynn said through her trademark grin before Thursday night's induction ceremony at the Griffin Gate resort. “We're in Kentucky. It doesn't get any better than that.

        “I think people would be surprised to know how many great musicians have come out of Kentucky. Get out a piece of paper and start counting. You'll be shocked.”

        Ms. Lynn was one of 12 artists selected as pioneers in Kentucky music and included in the first group to be enshrined in the new Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

        Other artists honored were Rosemary Clooney, The Everly Brothers, Clyde Julian “Red” Foley, John Lair, Tom T. Hall, Jean Ritchie, Merle Travis, Louis Marshall “Grandpa” Jones, Bradley Kincaid and The Osborne Brothers.

        “It makes me feel ancient, honestly,” said Ms. Ritchie, a Viper, Ky., native whose singing and dulcimer playing was first recorded in 1948. “But then again, I am going into a museum. So I guess it's apropos.”

        Memorabilia of the Hall of Fame inductees will be displayed in a new $6 million, 16,600-square-foot museum at Renfro Valley in Rockcastle County. The museum, set to open in May, is part of a plan by state officials to draw tourists to eastern Kentucky.

        The inaugural class was selected by a statewide advisory board, which defined “pioneers” as those who shaped or so profoundly affected the evolution of music that it prepared the way of others who followed.

        In addition, the inaugural class had to be at least 70 percent from country, bluegrass, folk, gospel or religious genres of music.

        “Contemporaries,” defined as artists who began their careers after 1960, will be eligible for induction in 2003. Future candidates must have been born or lived in Kentucky, must have left an indelible mark on the music industry and must have been a professional in the industry for more than a decade.

        Ms. Clooney, a longtime singer and television personality who received a lifetime achievement award during Wednesday night's Grammy Awards, did not attend. The Maysville native underwent lung cancer surgery in January.

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