Public Programs
The Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum
Fifteenth Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum Honoring Lorianne Crook
The Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum honors music industry leaders who continue Scruggs’s legacy as a formidable businesswoman who set new professional standards in artist management. This year’s ceremony honors Lorianne Crook.
Lorianne Crook is a television and radio host, producer, and writer, as well as the president of Jim Owens Entertainment, Inc. Since 1983, she and Charlie Chase have co-hosted several different country music news television shows, specials, and award shows, as well as the long-running radio show The Crook and Chase Countdown. Crook is a member of the Country Radio Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Grand Ole Opry’s Bob Kingsley Living Legend Award, and has received numerous Academy of Country Music awards and Country Music Association awards.
Join the Museum in celebrating Crook and her contributions to country music on August 15 at 6:30 PM—this event, supported by Gibson Gives, is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.
Program Supported by Gibson Gives
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
Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum Include:
- Kay Clary (2013)
- Bebe Evans and Marcie Allen Van Mol (2019)
- Bonnie Garner (2010)
- Dixie Hall (2015)
- Cindy Mabe (2018)
- Mary Martin (2009)
- Bev Paul (2020)
- Nancy Shapiro (2012)
- Denise Stiff (2007)
- Liz Theils (2008)
- Traci Thomas (2017)
- Sarah Trahern (2011)
- Jo Walker-Meador (2014)
- Kay West (2022)