LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Country superstar Keith Urban and Kix Brooks of powerhouse country duo Brooks & Dunn will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.
The organization announced its newest inductees on Thursday. They also include Casey Beathard and David Lee Murphy, in the contemporary songwriter category, and Rafe Van Hoy in the veteran songwriter category. They will be formally inducted on October 11 during the 53rd Anniversary Gala held at the Music City Center.
Chair of the organization鈥檚 board of directors, Rich Hallworth, and Mark Ford, its executive director, made the announcement at Nashville鈥檚 historic Columbia Studio A.
Urban, a four-time Grammy Award winning Australian country music superstar, is one of the greatest success stories of modern country music, winning awards and making a name for himself with both self-penned songs, and songs he made his own. Among his creations, 鈥淏ut For The Grace of God,鈥 鈥淲ho Wouldn鈥檛 Wanna Be Me鈥 and 鈥淒ays Go By," became smash hits.
Kix Brooks' songwriting in Brooks & Dunn helped shaped the iconic '90s country music sound, with tracks like "Brand New Man,鈥 鈥淵ou鈥檙e Gonna Miss Me When I鈥檓 Gone鈥 and 鈥淥nly in America.鈥
Casey Beathard is known for writing such hits as 's 鈥淗ell of a View鈥 and Zach Williams and 's 鈥淭here Was Jesus.鈥
David Lee Murphy's best-known tracks include 's 鈥淟iving In Fast Forward鈥 and David Lee Murphy's 鈥淒ust on the Bottle.鈥
Rafe Van Hoy wrote the classics George Jones and 's 鈥淕olden Ring鈥 and Deborah Allen's 鈥淏aby I Lied."
鈥淕athering for this occasion 鈥 to recognize and of our incoming class 鈥 is always one of the highlights of our year,鈥 Hallworth said in a statement.
