NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Country Music Hall of Fame member, Songwriters Hall of Fame member and ACM and CMA-award-winning entertainment titan, Bill Anderson, was honored with the 2024 Dr. David Godbold Lifetime Achievement Award by the South Carolina Entertainment and Music Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 25. Anderson was inducted by the organization in 1994, and is the first Lifetime Achievement Award honoree. Anderson was born in Columbia, South Carolina and lived there for the first 8 years of his life until moving to Georgia.
“What a thrill it was to go back to the state where I was born and receive the first Lifetime Achievement Award ever given to a member of the South Carolina Entertainment and Music Hall of Fame,” Bill Anderson shared. He continued, “I appreciate so much the efforts of Dr. David Godbold, founder and CEO of the Hall of Fame, and his staff for keeping alive the music and accomplishments of entertainers and musicians with roots in South Carolina. I told the audience in my acceptance speech that Bill Anderson has never ceased to be proud that he’s from South Carolina and that it’s nice to know South Carolina hasn’t forgotten Bill Anderson as well.”
The Dr. David Godbold Lifetime Achievement award carries the name of the founder of the South Carolina Entertainment and Music Hall of Fame and was created to recognize an artist who has previously been inducted and has achieved significant national success in the field of music and/or entertainment. The award is nominated and voted on by the board of directors to celebrate an individual or group who has achieved national prominence through their creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance that shines a positive light on the State of South Carolina.
In 2023, Anderson enlisted four fellow Hall of Famers – Bobby Bare, Jimmy Fortune, Vince Gill and Willie Nelson – for their collaboration, “The Country I Grew Up With,” released on Nov. 17, 2023 via MCA Nashville/UMe. Anderson also presented the award for Song of the Year with ACM award-winning hitmaker, Sara Evans, during the 57th Annual CMA Awards and was celebrated last year for his indelible 62 years as the longest-serving member in Grand Ole Opry history.
ABOUT BILL ANDERSON:
Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry titan Bill Anderson is the rare songwriter whose first major label cut went to No. 1 on the charts, was named Song of The Year and sparked a writing career that is currently in its seventh decade. The song, “City Lights,” was written when Andersonwas a 19-year old Georgia disc jockey and became a career-defining hit for Ray Price in 1958. The song opened doors for him in Nashville, leading him to signing with BMI and Tree Publishing. Anderson was far from a one-hit wonder. He followed “City Lights” with country standards like “Tips Of My Fingers,” the GRAMMY-nominated “Once A Day,” “Saginaw, Michigan,” “That’s What It’s Like To Be Lonesome,” “I Missed Me,” “Cold Hard Facts Of Life,” which earned him another GRAMMY nomination, “Mama Sang A Song,” the crossover smash, “Still,” and countless others. He was voted country Songwriter of the Year six times during his first decade in Music City. His success continued into the 1970’s with award-winning hits like “Slippin’ Away,” “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking,” “I May Never Get To Heaven,” and the disco-flavored, “I Can’t Wait Any Longer.” The 1980’s saw Anderson’s chart-topping career take a hiatus as he became a TV network game show host, spokesman for a national restaurant chain and a nonstop touring Grand Ole Opry performer. In the 1990’s he came roaring back with a vengeance, however, as he seriously turned to co-writing for the first time. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, his collaborations with the newer generation of Nashville tunesmiths resulted in hits like “Wish You Were Here,” the GRAMMY-nominated “Two Teardrops,” “A Lot Of Things Different,” for Kenny Chesney, “Which Bridge To Cross (Which Bridge To Burn),” for Vince Gill and two CMA Song Of The Year trophies for “Whiskey Lullaby,” with Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss and George Strait’s “Give It Away,” in 2005 and 2007 respectfully. He continues to write today with songs like Brad Paisley’s “Dying To See Her.” For more information, visit BillAnderson.com.
