On this day in 1961, Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Fred Rose became the first inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame posthumously.

Williams, who passed away in 1953, had released more than 30 singles during his career and his final one,  “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,” was Number 1 after his death.

Fred Rose is credited with helping the careers of Williams and several others; with his many credits as a songwriter. Rose passed away one year after Williams.

Rodgers is considered by many as the Father of Country Music. His popularity soared in the 1920s and into the early ’30s, but at the peak of his popularity, Rodgers lost his battle with tuberculosis.
All three of the initial inductees are also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.