Biography

Jimmie Rodgers was the first figure inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is fondly referred to as the “Father of Country Music.” Yet his combination of blues and hillbilly styles made him a true forebear of rock and roll, and he was also part of the first group of musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Jimmie Rodgers was born in Meridian, Mississippi, in 1897. At the age of 14, Rodgers began working on the M&O Railroad as a water boy. He had already started playing banjo and guitar, and he picked up blues ...