We use cookies in the following ways: (1) for system administration, (2) to assess the performance of the website, (3) to personalize your experience, content and ads, (4) to provide social media features, and (5) to analyze our traffic. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website. Please consult instructions for your web browser to disable or block cookies, or to receive a warning before a cookie is stored on your computer or mobile device. Read our Privacy Policy.

Country Music Hall of Fame logo.
Museum View Cart
Country Music Hall of Fame logo.

Public Programs

The Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum

Sixteenth Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum Honoring Sally Williams

The Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum honors music industry leaders who continue in Scruggs’s legacy as a formidable businesswoman who set new professional standards in artist management. This year’s ceremony honors Sally Williams.

Sally Williams, president of Nashville music and business strategy for Live Nation Entertainment and a co-manager of the band Old Crow Medicine Show since 2019, has spent more than thirty years promoting concerts and managing music venues. She joined Gaylord Entertainment in 1999, became general manager of the Ryman Auditorium in 2008, and was named Opry Entertainment Group’s senior vice president of programming and artist relations, as well as general manager of the Grand Ole Opry, in 2017. Williams is a two-time Academy of Country Music award winner, is the T. J. Martell Foundation’s 2019 Frances Preston Outstanding Music Industry Achievement Award recipient, and was named one of ten trendsetters in Nashville Business Journal’s 2023 Power 100 list, among other honors.

Join the Museum in celebrating Williams and her contributions to country music on August 7 at 6:30 PM—this event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.

MEMBERS RESERVE HERE non-members reserve here

The Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum, made possible by Gibson Gives and presented for the first time in 2007, was created to honor a music industry leader who represents the legacy of pioneer Louise Scruggs. Her understanding of music and musical trends, coupled with her formidable business acumen, allowed her to steer her husband Earl Scruggs’s career toward ever-widening audiences. In 1955, she began booking and managing the Flatt & Scruggs show, and she continued to guide her husband’s career until her passing in February 2006. As the first woman in country music to assume these roles, she set new standards for the industry. ​

Watch Interviews with Past Honorees

Videos On-Demand

Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum Include:

  • Lorianne Crook (2023)
  • Kay West (2022)
  • Bev Paul (2020)
  • Bebe Evans and Marcie Allen Van Mol (2019)
  • Cindy Mabe (2018)
  • Traci Thomas (2017)
  • Dixie Hall (2015)
  • Jo Walker-Meador (2014)
  • Kay Clary (2013)
  • Nancy Shapiro (2012)
  • Sarah Trahern (2011)
  • Bonnie Garner (2010)
  • Mary Martin (2009)
  • Liz Theils (2008)
  • Denise Stiff (2007)