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Kenny Chesney was quick to congratulate fellow country star Tim McGraw on his upcoming induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Marty Stuart revealed the Class of 2026 during a live-streamed announcement in the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda on Friday morning (March 20). McGraw will be inducted in the Modern Era Artist category (the same category as Chesney), alongside The Stanley Brothers in the Veterans Era Artist category, and Paul Overstreet in the Songwriter category, which rotates every third year with the Non-Performer and Musician categories.
“I met Tim McGraw in 1991 at a meat and three lunch place called Mack’s cafe,” Chesney reflected in a post on Instagram. “I was brand new in Nashville and didn’t really know anybody. That was the beginning of our friendship and our journey in this business together. Although Tim went on the road before I did we shared the same dream, the same love for great songs, and knew we were standing on the shoulders of our musical heroes once our dreams started to come true. We have been through a lot together on the road and off and today I am overwhelmed with joy to find out that my friend Tim McGraw will be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame.
“You deserve all of it Tim. I am proud to be your friend and to be on this amazing Journey with you,” Chesney wrote. “Who knew those two kids at Mack’s Cafe 35 years ago wouldn’t just share some of the biggest stages together, but would one day share a place in the country music hall of fame. I love you brother and I’m so happy for you and your family.”
McGraw shared an emotional statement during the live-streamed announcement event on Friday morning. The Louisiana-born country icon reminisced on his first day in Nashville, Tennessee, and his journey to the Hall of Fame that’s still “impossible for me to believe.” McGraw also pointed out that it’s “fitting” that the public announcement arrives during “National Women’s History Month, and everyone who knows me knows that I wouldn’t be standing here to day if it weren’t for great women in my life.” He spotlighted his grandmother, his mother, his sisters, his three daughters, “and most of all my wife [fellow country icon Faith Hill]. Thank you, baby. …I can’t wait for the day that I’m sitting there and you’re standing here,” becoming a Hall of Fame inductee herself.
Chesney said it was “overwhelming” when he was inducted in October 2025, alongside June Carter Cash and Tony Brown. Chesney said at the time, “it’s an unbelievable feeling to stand here in this moment, and with every cell in my body, I feel the gravity of this moment. …The thing that I am very thankful for is the fact that I got to do this with so many people.”
McGraw, The Stanley Brothers and Overstreet will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony hosted later this year. Find more info — including bios for each inductee, information about the upcoming Medallion Ceremony, the election process and more — here.