Waylon Jennings to be Honored in Hollywood
It’s the civic duty of any true country music fan to support the careers of deserving artists who are keeping the flame of country music alive, while working to help preserve the legacies of the greats that came before. Waylon Jennings has one of those legacies that’s easy to preserve since he put together a career that hasn’t only withstood the test of time, but arguable has only grown in stature over the years, and continues to significantly influence the country artists of today.
Recently, the music and legacy of Waylon Jennings has seen renewed attention after his son Shooter Jennings helped release a very well-received archive album called Songbird in 2025, and has also prepped the second of three archive albums to be released on November 16th called Diamonds.
Now Waylon Jennings is receiving an honor he probably should have received many years ago. Though let’s face it, Waylon never liked being honored that much in life, skipping out on awards shows, and not even attending his Country Music Hall of Fame induction. But that didn’t mean he didn’t deserve those honors. He just rarely if ever labored at all to receive them. That’s one of the things that made him so cool.
Last week, it was announced that Waylon Jennings will be part of the 2027 class receiving stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Waylon will be a rare posthumous recipient. He will go in with other musical performers Karol G, David Guetta, The Ramones, Joseph Saddler (Grandmaster Flash), Marc Shaiman, Sia, Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park, and Lil Wayne.
“Thanks to the amazing Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to our great friend John Arakaki and the persistence and follow through of my wife Waylon is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!” Shooter Jennings said about the honor. “I could not be more proud to permanently honor him among the stars who have come before!!”
A country artists receiving a Walk of Fame Star is not entirely unprecedented, but not a given either. Roy Acuff, Eddy Arnold, and Gene Autry were all inducted in the Walk of Fame’s inaugural class in 1961. Hank Williams has a Walk of Fame Star. Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, Patsy Cline, Randy Travis, and Vince Gill are others who’ve received the honor. Dolly Parton has two stars—one for herself, and one for Trio with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.
Interestingly, Waylon’s old running buddy Willie Nelson does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It probably helped that son Shooter is based in L.A., and he and his wife could lobby for the honor.
There are bigger honors entertainers can receive, and some curmudgeony Outlaw country fans are sure to say Waylon wouldn’t care, or scoff that it’s happening in “Hollyweird.” But preserving the legacy of these country artists wherever possible is the way to keep their memories alive.
July 26, 2026 @ 9:26 am
Hey Trig, let me ask a question. Recently I was inspired by a particular Rick Beato video to investigate the number of monthly Spotify listeners for a number of artists and found that quite few pre-1980’s country legends were way behind what I would have expected compared to their contemporaries in other genres or later country artists of lesser stature. Now I suppose it’s possible that classics make up a bigger percentage of a rock fan’s diet because there is less new rock (although groups like Linkin Park and Nickelback are outstreaming the Rolling Stones…absolutely bizarre), but it made me wonder if there has been a breakdown in commemorating or promoting the legacy of the great ones in country? Or is this because older audiences still listen to the radio instead of stream? Is there an upper limit on how many years even a legendary artist can remain relevant?
July 26, 2026 @ 9:42 am
Good question. Generally speaking, older audiences listen to physical media more than younger audiences, and country audiences tend to listen to physical media more than rock/pop/hip-hop ones. That might explain some of the discrepancy, though it’s also fair to say that country just isn’t as popular as rock.
Another issue is that the streaming catalogs for certain country artists is incomplete.
But all of this I think is the reason we should advocate for older artists, and why things like this story are important.
July 26, 2026 @ 10:01 am
While the schedule of future inductions hasn’t been announced, I would expect Waylon’s to coincide with the release of Diamonds or the third album of unreleased songs. It’s sure to be a great promotion opportunity.
July 26, 2026 @ 10:26 am
I am part of the older audience and I much prefer a CD to streaming. I only tend to stream if I cannot get a physical copy of the album.
July 26, 2026 @ 9:54 am
I don’t think there is an upper limit. Interest in an artist can ebb and flow but it only takes one current superstar touting the influence of a legend to introduce them to a new generation.
The upside of streaming is that new fans can discover a legendary artist with just a click, no investment of money or time involved. As a lifetime country music fan, I’ve been introduced to new artists and reintroduced to some I had forgotten just by scrolling through YouTube.
While Waylon is going in under the music category, he had a pretty impressive acting resume that included films, TV movies, film music, documentaries and obviously, narrating a huge hit network TV show for several seasons. He had many Hollywood connections over the years.
July 26, 2026 @ 9:56 am
Maybe Goober Jennings and his wife can lobby their Hollywood friends for a much deserved Walk of Fame star for Charley Crockett.
July 26, 2026 @ 10:03 am
It’s really amazing how you manage to drag the artists you loathe so much into threads that have absolutely nothing to do with them.