AUSTIN, TX. (Top40 Charts) The
Texas Heritage Songwriters Association (TXHSA) inducted Mark
James into its 2022 Hall of Fame class along with Lefty Frizzell, Nanci Griffith, and Lightnin' Hopkins on February 12, 2022. During its Friday night sponsor-only Darrell K Royal Pickin' Party, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Executive Director, Creative, Texas, Mitch Ballard, and Assistant Vice President, Creative, Nashville,
Mason Hunter joined TXHSA Board Member and Producer Joe Ables in presenting
James with several of their coveted "Million-Air" certificates.
Texas songwriter Mark
James earns multiple multi-million-air certificates covered by Elvis, Willie Nelson, B.J. Thomas.
BMI Million-Air Awards commemorate songs that have reached over one million broadcast performances. Most notably, James' mega-hits "Hooked On A Feeling" and "
Suspicious Minds" logged a staggering 9 million performances each. Other songs awarded certificates included "
Always On My Mind" (7 million), and "One Hell Of A Woman" and "Moody Blue," each receiving certificates for the 1 million mark. Together, these 5 songs have over 27 million cumulative performances.
Texas' self-styled culture is unique in ways that are respected and envied worldwide, and so is its songwriting. Penning some of popular music's most beloved and enduring songs, Mark
James is a songwriting legend.
His songs have been recorded in multiple genres, including pop, rock, jazz, country, R&B, and rap by the likes of Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, Blue Swede, Lou Rawls, Johnny Winter, Michael Bublé, Jay Z, Nancy Wilson,
Sonny & Cher,
Waylon Jennings, The Partridge Family, The Pet Shop Boys, Willie Nelson, Bill Withers, Martina McBride, Petula Clark, The Fine Young Cannibals, Bush, and
Dwight Yoakam among others.
Saturday's public Hall of Fame Awards Show at Austin's Paramount Theatre honored James, bringing him into the spotlight and inducting him into the
Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Sponsors and patrons celebrated
James and the other inductees in an evening of awards, tributes, and performances from past inductees, Grammy Award winners, renowned songwriters, and recording artists.
