To be honored at the Country Radio Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
June 30 at Virgin Hotel Nashville – Purchase Tickets Here!
(Nashville, Tenn. – May 24, 2022) The Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. has announced John Esposito, Chairman & CEO of Warner Music Nashville, as the 2022 CRB President’s Award recipient.
CRB/CRS Board President, Kurt Johnson, comments “John Esposito is well-known as a music business visionary, a leader, a mentor. He’s true friend to artists and to Country Radio. It’s hard to adequately capture the impact Espo’s had on Music Row over the past twelve years. But we will try. This will be a singularly special evening. Join us as we raise a toast to an icon.”
The CRB President’s Award is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the marketing, production, growth, and development of the Country Radio Seminar and the multiple services that Country Radio Broadcasters provide to the country radio and music communities.
Since Esposito joined the label in 2009, Warner Music Nashville’s market share has quadrupled. Its artists have spent more than 107 weeks at #1, earning 74 chart-topping singles, multiple gold and platinum sales certifications, and Grammy, CMA, ACM, Billboard, AMA, and People’s Choice awards ranging from New Artist to Entertainer of the Year. Esposito and his team now oversee a Music Row powerhouse that includes Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Zac Brown Band, Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell, Cody Johnson, Ashley McBryde, and a group of young artists who represent the genre’s next generation like Ingrid Andress and Gabby Barrett to name a few.
Esposito has been chairman of the board of the Country Music Association, governor of the Nashville Chapter Board of NARAS, and an Executive Committee board member of the Country Radio Broadcasters Association. He is vice-chairman of the T.J. Martell Foundation National Board and currently serves on the CMA Foundation board. The Music Business Association awarded Esposito its prestigious Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement in 2016, an honor he shares with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dick Clark, Walter Yetnikoff, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, Clive Davis, and Casey Kasem. In 2017, he was named the inaugural recipient of the Innovation in Music Awards’ Innovator of the Year Award and received an honorary doctorate of music from Monmouth University.
Previous CRB President’s Award recipients include Beverlee Brannigan, Sarah Trahern, Mike Dungan, Charlie Morgan, Bob Kingsley, Joe Galante, Erica Farber, and more.
The Country Radio Hall of Fame will be held on June 30 at Virgin Hotel Nashville. The Class of 2022 Country Radio Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at the event and includes two off-air radio broadcasters and four on-air radio personalities. The off-air honorees are Becky Brenner and Barry Mardit. The on-air honorees are Whitney Allen, Debbie Conner, Cathy Martindale, and Rachel & Grunwald. Individual tickets are $150 per person and are available for purchase here.
For more information and a list of past inductees, visit https://www.countryradioseminar.com.
For more information, visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com and follow CRS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Additional information can be obtained by calling 615-327-4487.
About Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc®: The Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc® is a 501 © 3 non-profit organization founded in 1969 to bring radio broadcasters worldwide together with the Country Music Industry to ensure vitality and promote growth in the Country Radio format.
About Country Radio Seminar: Country Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas and business practices in the Country music industry, with specific emphasis on issues relevant to Country radio. Country Radio Seminar 2022 was held Feb. 23-25 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. CRS 2023 dates are set for March 13-15, 2023.
