Oak Ridge Boys' Duane Allen Joins Texas Country Music Hall of Fame

The lead vocalist for the Oak Ridge Boys earns high honor from his home state.

Oak Ridge Boys lead singer Duane Allen, award-winning was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and named an honorary Admiral in the Texas Navy by Governor Rick Perry. Oak Ridge Boys members Joe Bonsall, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban shared the spotlight by being proclaimed as honorary Texans. Longtime manager, Jim Halsey, along with Tommie Ritter Smith, president of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame/Tex Ritter Museum, presented Allen and the Mighty Oaks with the plaque. Allen expressed his gratitude for the honor of being an inductee before the show.

“I want everybody to know it just chills me to the bone to be inducted in the Hall of Fame, because anyone that comes from Texas is proud of that, and I’m a proud Texan. I love to tell people I’m a Texan, and to have my name listed in the Texan Country Music Hall of Fame is a big deal as far as I’m concerned.”

The 17th annual celebration was held in Carthage, Texas and included a special concert by The Oak Ridge Boys, country music and gospel quartet, and other artists including Linda Davis and Mary Sarah. Guests at the ceremony enjoyed free tours of the Hall of Fame museum which features an exhibit on Allen’s extraordinary life and musical journey with the Oaks created by Halsey, Allen’s wife, Norah Lee, and Kathy Harris from the Oak Ridge Boys’ Corporate Office. Ritter Smith describes the inclusion of all four Oaks members into the induction ceremony as a reflection of Allen’s heart and East Texas roots. “He’s the one that was being inducted. But, he wanted all of the other members to be honored right along with him. So, The Oak Ridge Boys were proudly named honorary Texans,” she explains. Allen joins an impressive list of performers who have been inducted previously into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, including Tex Ritter, Willie Nelson, Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Moe Bandy, Ernest Tubb, Ray Price, Tanya Tucker, Buck Owens, Neal McCoy, The Whites and many more.
Duane Allen says, “I am still in the after-glow of a very overwhelming event in my life. It is a huge honor, and I am humbled to the core of my soul with this induction. My first emotional moment was when I walked into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. Less than a few feet inside, I had to just stop and gather my feelings.”

Allen responded to the honor and all of his fans on Social Media after the ceremony:
Allen was also honored earlier this year in his hometown near Paris, TX, where they named a small, rural bridge for him.
“It’s a little bitty bridge right in front of where I grew up on daddy’s farm, that’s where I came from, and it means more to me than if they named the Golden Gate after me,” Allen said. “That’s where mom and dad raised all six of us and taught us to sing in the cotton fields that connect with that road in the little white house on the hill.”

Allen went to Paris Junior College and Texas A&M Commerce before joining The Oak Ridge Boys. They later went on to become one of the most successful groups in country music, with a dozen #1 hits and more than 30 top ten singles. Touring together for 40+ years and continuing to sell out shows and to record albums as recently as this spring, the Oaks vow to continue to perform and record good music until the time comes when they cannot. Their first ever Live album Boys Night Out was released this Spring amidst a flurry of television and radio appearances, just in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of their biggest hits “Elvira”. The Oaks are currently in production of an album of hymns through the Gaither Music Group. Allen’s showcase of memorabilia can be seen at the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame/Tex Ritter Museum. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 adults and $3 child. A video of the ceremony, filmed by Richard Haire, who operates part of the Oak Ridge Boys’ web site, is available on YouTube, but you can watch it below, here. For more information on the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame induction and Duane Allen museum exhibit, visit their website here. To get the latest updates and tour information for the Oak Ridge Boys, you can visit their website here.

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