LOS ANGELES — Country star Cindy Walker was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, it was announced Thursday.
Walker, who wrote countless hits across her six-decade career, was celebrated for her immediate, unpretentious songwriting style. She wrote songs performed by some of the biggest names in country music history and beyond, including Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, B.B. King, Cher, and Glen Campbell.
Some hits include “Blue Canadian Rockies,” as made famous by Gene Autry, Bing Crosby’s “Lone Star Trail,” and Roy Orbison’s “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream).”
She died in 2006 at age 87 in Mexia, Texas. That same year, Willie Nelson released a tribute album of covers called “You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker.” Perhaps her best known composition, “You Don’t Know Me,” has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Eddy Arnold, Kenny Rogers, Emmylou Harris and many more.
This year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame class was Steely Dan, R.E.M., Timbaland, Hillary Lindsey and Dean Pitchford. They have scaled the heights of country, classic rock, pop, hip-hop and alt-rock.
