The Academy Remembers

Vaughn was born in the small town of Sullivan, Kentucky, where he started his career in music working at a local radio station, WMSK, and later enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville. He began working in publishing, with an internship at Big Tractor Music, Warner Chappell Music’s partner. After that company’s longtime leader left, Vaughn, 21 at the time, was put in charge and had six months to prove himself. 

Six months turned into six years. He left Big Tractor and moved to EMI, where he ran their creative team for seven years. He then was named the youngest executive to lead a publishing company in Nashville at just 34. 

After, he found his way back to where his career began, at Warner Chappell. There he led the company, overseeing A&R, finance, administration, and more. While he was a leader in business, Vaughn was also a fierce advocate for songwriters and rights protection. Altogether, his songwriters have brought home 19 awards, from ACM Awards to Grammys. He also boasts eight inductions into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.  

Additionally, he was an integral part of the Academy, serving as the Chair of the ACM Board and a member of the ACM Lifting Lives Board. 

Upon his passing, the Nashville community heavily felt the loss and shared their thoughts and condolences. 

Montgomery was raised by a farmer fiddler and guitarist and grew up playing banjo, fiddle, and guitar with her brothers Carl and Earl, who both became songwriters. Montgomery moved to Nashville at age 19 where she entered and won a talent contest by WSM Radio, home of the Grand Ole Opry. Roy Acuff was amazed by her talent and invited her to join his touring troupe. She notably became duet partners with George Jones and made their hit song, “We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds,” after she signed with United Artist Records. That duet has since been recorded by more the two dozen artists. 
 
Her songwriting led her to work with Conway Twitty, Hank Williams Jr., and more. For the next 20 years, she helped write for iconic artists, including Reba, Emmylou Harris, and George Straight. 

Montgomery went on to release four more albums, but upon the death of her husband, Jack Solomon, she decided to retire in 2015. As a songwriter, she had more than 100 of her songs recorded. 

The Whites, composed of Buck and his two sisters, Sharon White-Skaggs and Cheryl White, began performing as a group in the mid-1960s and entered the Nashville music scene in 1971. 

They delivered their first Top 10, “You Put the Blue in Me,” and success followed with “Hangin’ Around” and “Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling.” They went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year for the soundtrack album O Brother, Where Art Thou? 

White’s innate ability to blend sounds of bluegrass, gospel, folk, and Country set him and his sisters apart from the rest and inspired millions. The Whites are considered the “new first family of Country Music.”