Veteran singers Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare and the late Cowboy Jack Clement were the toast of Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday (27Oct13) as they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Barry Gibb, Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris were among the stars who gathered at the venue to salute the three honourees, with Alison Krauss, Garth Brooks and Darius Rucker joining forces to celebrate Rogers' career.

Speaking during the ceremony, Brooks hailed The Gambler hitmaker as a master, saying, "If there was an entertainer university, when it comes to Entertainer 101, I can vouch firsthand that Kenny Rogers would be the professor of that class."

The event also featured a special tribute to Clement, who learned of his Hall of Fame induction five months before he succumbed to liver cancer in August (13), aged 82. He was remembered by two trumpeters, who performed the horn intro to his classic hit Ring of Fire, which he produced for Johnny Cash.