Brad Paisley, Emmylou Harris & More Among Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame 2025 Inductees

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will be inducting a new class of revered Music City tunesmiths who are known for writing hits including “Boulder to Birmingham,” “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song),” “She’s Looking at Me,” “Only in America,” “Every Mile a Memory” and “You Look Good in My Shirt.”

Brad Paisley, Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale, Don Cook, Steve Bogard and Tony Martin make up the Hall’s Class of 2025. These six electees will join the 247 previously inducted members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame when they are formally inducted during the 55th annual Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala, slated for Monday, Oct. 6, at Nashville’s Music City Center.

Bogard and Martin have been elected in the contemporary songwriter category, while Lauderdale has been elected in the contemporary songwriter-artist category. Cook has been elected in the veteran songwriter category, Harris in the veteran songwriter-artist category, while Paisley was elected in 2024 but was deferred at his request to 2025.

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame board of directors chair Rich Hallworth and executive director Mark Ford made the announcement of this year’s class of honorees during a press conference held Wednesday (Aug. 6) at Nashville’s Columbia Studio A, part of Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.

“Gathering as we do each year – to reveal and welcome the members of our incoming class – is truly one of the highlights of our calendar,” Hallworth said in a statement. “To these outstanding songwriters, we say, ‘Thank you for sharing your songs and your artistry with us. We are proud to honor you this fall, when you will officially join your legendary peers in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.’”

Bogard is known for writing songs including “Carried Away” (recorded by George Strait), “Prayin’ for Daylight” (Rascal Flatts) and “Every Mile a Memory” (Dierks Bentley). Martin’s songwriter credits include “Baby’s Gotten Good at Goodbye” (Strait), “A Little More Summertime” (Jason Aldean) and “You Look Good in My Shirt” (Keith Urban). Two-time Grammy winner Lauderdale has recorded many of his own composed songs, among them “I Feel Like Singing Today,” “She’s Looking at Me” and “Mighty Lonesome.” Thirteen-time Grammy winner Harris also popularized many of her self-written songs, including “Boulder to Birmingham,” “White Line” and “Heartbreak Hill.”

Cook’s songwriting credits include “I Wish That I Could Hurt That Way Again” (T. Graham Brown), “Small Town Girl” (Steve Wariner) and “Only in America” (Brooks & Dunn). Three-time Grammy winner Paisley is known for writing many of his own hits, including “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song),” “Letter to Me” and “Remind Me” (a duet with Carrie Underwood).

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame launched in 1970, with its 247 previously inducted members including songwriters and artist-writers including Bill Anderson, Bobby Braddock, Garth Brooks, Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Tom T. Hall, Harlan Howard Alan Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Bob McDill, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Don Schlitz and Cindy Walker.