R&B legend Ray Charles, who helped redefine country music in the Civil Rights era, and Grammy-winning duo The Judds will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Country Music Association on Monday announced the new class of Hall of Fame members, who will be formally inducted in a ceremony in 2022. Charles, who died in 2004, showed the commercial potential of country music when he released “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” in 1962, a genre-defying personal project to the Georgia-born singer and piano player. Charles grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opy and his record, which was considered a risk at the time, became one of the best selling country albums of the era. His version of “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” spent five weeks on top of the Billboard 100 chart and remains one of his most popular songs. Over the years, Charles’ impact on country music has been more widely recognized, with a major museum exhibition on Charles at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and a 2019 Opry television special dedicated to him. Naomi Judd and her daughter, Wynonna, were the most successful duo in country music in the 1980s, with more than a dozen No. 1 hits, including “Mama, He’s Crazy,” “Love Can Build a Bridge” and “Grandpa (Tell Me about the Good Old Days).” “We had such a stamp of originality on what we were trying to do,” Naomi said in an interview after the announcement. The Hall of Fame also announced a tie this year for the category of recording musician between Eddie Bayers and Pete Drake. (SD-Agencies) | 