The North Carolina Music Hall Of Fame in Kannapolis (+ How You Can Visit!)

Every October, the Kannapolis-based North Carolina Music Hall of Fame (NCMHOF) honors North Carolinians with an induction ceremony. Throughout the year, you can visit the museum and pay respects to the best of NC’s music scene.

Our guide shares both of the above, as well as the history of the NC Music Hall of Fame, this year’s inductees (and previous ones), and more!

• The History of the NC Music Hall of Fame (and Museum)
• How to Visit the NC Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis Today
• Induction Ceremony Details
• 2026 Inductees
• Recent Inductees
• More Things to Do in Kannapolis (and Nearby)

Read More: 100+ Unique Things to Do In North Carolina (Your NC Bucket List)

History of the NC Music Hall of Fame Museum

The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that was formed in 1994 in Thomasville, North Carolina. Its mission is to “recognize, promote, and commemorate the musical heritage of the State of North Carolina.”

In 2008, California music executive (and industry icon) Mike Curb partnered with the NCMHOF to provide a building in Kannapolis, which also houses his extensive auto racing collection. That’s why the building is also known as The Curb Museum for Music and Motorsports.

Side Note: Some of Curb’s collection is also housed in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

The NCMHOF organization’s office then moved from Thomasville to Kannapolis. The NC Music Hall of Fame museum officially opened on June 1, 2009, and its first induction ceremony was held on October 3, 2009.

Read More: The Most Amazing Museums in North Carolina (for ALL Ages!)

How to Visit the NC Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis Today

Address: 600 Dale Earnhardt Blvd, Kannapolis, NC
Official Website

Visit the NC Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis throughout the year. Admission is free (donations are appreciated), and guided tours are provided upon request.

Inside, 65 exhibits display memorabilia from previous NCMHOF inductees. The NC Music Hall of Fame recognizes a diverse array of genres and music professions, from blues to bluegrass, rock and roll to hip-hop.

Famous Items on Display Include:

• Charlie Daniels’ fiddle
• Beat machines from Jermaine Dupri and 9th Wonder
• Arthur Smith’s banjo
• Clothing from American Idols including Clay Aiken, Fantasia, Scotty McCreery, Fantasia, and Kellie Pickler
• Jim Lauderdale’s Grammy Award

The NC Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Details

2026 Event Date and Time: October 15, 2026
Location: The Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville, NC
Purchase NC Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Tickets

The most recent NC Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2025) was presented by Visit Mooresville and held at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville.

The ceremony was open to the public, and tickets can be purchased directly from the NCMHOF for this important annual celebration.

Read More: Delicious Restaurants in Mooresville

2026 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees

The NC Music Hall of Fame’s 2026 class includes the following people and organizations:

• Arrogance (Chapel Hill, NC): This Chapel Hill-based rock band was co-founded at the University of North Carolina by Robert Kirkland and acclaimed producer and musician Don Dixon. The group is recognized as North Carolina’s original indie rock trailblazers. Their self-released debut album “Give Us a Break” established an early model for DIY recording and distribution.
• MC SHA-ROCK (Wilmington, NC): MC SHA_ROCK is known as the “first female of Hip Hop culture” and a founding member of the trailblazing group Funky 4 + 1, which was the first Hip-Hop groupd to appear on national TV, with an appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1981. Emerging during those formative Hip-Hop years in the late 1970s, SHA-ROCK helped establish various new standards for microphone technique, lyrical delivery, and live performance.
• Barry Poss, 1945-2025 (Durham, NC): Poss (1945-2025) was the founder of Sugar Hill Records, an influential label in modern bluegrass and Americana. Under his leadership, the label released recordings by NC Hall of Famers like Doc Watson and nationally-known names like Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Jerry Douglas, Nickel Creek, and Sam Bush.
• Billy Strayhorn, 1915-1967 (Hillsborough, NC): This influential jazz composer and arranger was best known for his long-term collaboration with Duke Ellington. His compositions included “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “Lush Life,” both of which have become jazz standards. Strayhorn’s work is recognized in the Grammy Hall of Fame and by the Library of Congress for its historical and cultural significance.
• Sugar Bear (Red Springs, NC): Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliott is a founding member of Experience Unlimited (E.U.), a pioneer of Go-Go music. E.U. recorded three Billboard-charting singles and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Black Singles chart with “Da Butt” in 1988. The song was nominated for a Grammy and earned E.U. a Soul Train Award for Best New Artist.

Eddie Ray Lifetime Achievement Award

• George Clinton (Kannapolis, NC): founder of Parliament and Funkadelic, and a pioneer of funk music. George Clinton was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and is being recognized in 2026 with the Eddie Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of influence on American music.
  • Side Note: I actually saw Clinton play many years ago and will always remember those 2-3 hours of funky fun.

Recent NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees

Recent inductees include the following people and organizations:

• 2025 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • David Childers (Mount Holly, NC): Childers is a revered North Carolina singer-songwriter, poet, and painter. Known for his distinct, gritty voice and vivid storytelling, Childers blends folk, rockabilly, and country, and he’s released over a dozen albums.
  • Luke Combs (Huntersville, NC): Luke Combs is a multi-platinum country superstar. He’s an 11-time CMA, 4-time ACM, and 6-time Billboard Music Award-winner.
  • Robert Deaton (Fayetteville, NC): Robert Deaton is a visionary director and producer who has influenced popular culture, creating one-of-a-kind film, television, and music performances.
  • Hattie “Chatty Hatty” Leeper (Charlotte, NC): Leeper was a pioneering radio DJ, known as one of the first black women to ever take on the role in the Southern United States. Leeper produced music and wrote liner notes for Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle, while also managing several music groups and starting her own record label.
  • Clyde Mattocks (Kinston, NC): Best known as The Man of Steel, Mattocks founded the Super Grit Cowboy Band and mentored many musicians over the years. Mattocks mastered every type of string instrument across 70 years of playing and produced numerous recording projects.
  • Dexter Romweber (Chapel Hill, NC): Romweber was a defining figure of the Chapel Hill music scene, known for his electric live performances and rockabilly styling. He sparked a resurgence of rockabilly and the “power duo” revival with his band Flat Duo Jets.

• 2024 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Petey Pablo (Greenville, NC)
  • Clarence Avant (Climax, NC)
  • Mary Cardwell Dawson (Madison, NC)
  • Merge Records (Durham, NC)
  • Tommy Faile (Charlotte, NC)
  • Bobby Hicks (Newton, NC)
• 2023 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Fetchin Bones (Charlotte, NC)
  • Bill Fatback Curtis (Fayetteville, NC)
  • Betty Davis (Durham, NC)
  • Scotty McCreery (Garner, NC)
  • George Beverly Shea
  • Loudon Wainwright III (Durham, NC)
• 2022 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Bernard Edwards (Greenville, NC)
  • Nnenna Freelon (Durham, NC)
  • Stephanie Mills (Charlotte, NC)
  • Janet Paschal (Reidsville, NC)
  • Charlie Poole (Statesville, NC)
• 2021 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Robert “Bob” Moog (Asheville, NC)
  • Tony Rice (Reidsville, NC)
• 2020 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • The Briarhoppers (Charlotte, NC)
  • Jermaine Dupri (Asheville, NC)
  • Donald Lawrence (Gastonia, NC)
  • Michael T. Mauldin (Murphy, NC)
  • Squirrel Nut Zippers (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • Charles Whitfield (Greensboro, NC)

• 2019 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • 9th Wonder (Midway, NC)
  • Elizabeth Cotten (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • Mitch Easter (Winston-Salem, NC)
  • Big Daddy Kane (Wake Forest, NC)
  • Merle Watson (Deep Gap, NC)

• 2018 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Luther Barnes (Rocky Mount, NC)
  • Chris Daughtry (Roanoke Rapids, NC)
  • Blind Boy Fuller (Wadesboro, NC)
  • The Hoppers (Madison, NC)
  • Dolphus Ramseur (Odell, NC)
  • Calvin Richardson (Monroe, NC)
  • John Tesh (Raleigh, NC)
• 2017 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Etta Baker (Caldwell County, NC)
  • Bucky Covington (Rockingham, NC)
  • Anthony Hamilton (Charlotte, NC)
  • Jim Lauderdale (Troutman, NC)
  • The Sensational Nightingales (Goldsboro, NC)
  • Richard Lewis Spencer (Wadesboro, NC)
  • Steep Canyon Rangers (Chapel Hill, NC)

• 2016 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • The Avett Brothers (Mount Pleasant, NC)
  • Band of Oz (Greenville, NC)
  • Chuck Brown (Gaston, NC)
  • Carolina Chocolate Drops (Boone, NC)
  • Percy Heath (Wilmington, NC)
  • David Holt (Western NC)
  • Kellie Pickler (Albemarle, NC)
  • Ron Tyson (Monroe, NC)

• 2015 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Gerald Alston (Henderson, NC)
  • Bishop F.C. Barnes (Nash County, NC)
  • Nappy Brown (Charlotte, NC)
  • Eric Church (Granite Falls, NC)
  • Warren Haynes (Asheville, NC)
  • Chuck Jackson (Winston-Salem, NC)
  • The Fantastic Shakers
  • Jay Spell (Spivey Corner, NC)
• 2014 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Clay Aiken (Raleigh, NC)
  • Jimmy Capps (Fayetteville, NC)
  • The Embers
  • Fantasia (High Point, NC)
  • Little Eva (Belhaven, NC)
  • Lulu Belle & Scotty (Boone, NC, and Ingalls, NC)
  • Tab Smith (Kinston, NC)
  • Link Wray (Dunn, NC)
• 2013 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Alicia Bridges (Charlotte, NC)
  • Tony Brown (Greensboro, NC)
  • The Catalinas (Charlotte, NC)
  • Rick Dees (Greensboro, NC)
  • John P. Kee (Durham, NC)
  • Del Reeves (Sparta, NC)
  • Grady Tate (Durham, NC)
  • Willie Weeks (Salemburg, NC)
• 2002 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductee
  • Ronnie Milsap (Robbinsville, NC)
• 1999 NC Music Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Chairmen of the Board (Charlotte, NC)
  • Charlie Daniels (Wilmington, NC)
  • Bill Griffin (Greensboro, NC)
  • Kay Kyser (Rocky Mount, NC)
  • Victoria Livengood (Thomasville, NC)
  • Loonis McGlohon (Ayden, NC)
  • Billy Scott (Charlotte, NC)

Many of these artists feature in our Spotify Playlist that includes some of the best bands and musicians from NC!

More Things to Do in Kannapolis (and Nearby)

The NC Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is a major event, and we’ve included it among the best things to do in Kannapolis. Here are some more NC Travel Guides that feature Kannapolis and its surroundings.