On May 1, 2022, Pete Drake became the first pedal steel guitarist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Georgia native deserves such a high honor, if only for his matchless session work on Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden” and other benchmarks in country music history.
In the bigger picture, Drake worked tirelessly as more than an elite session player, from his 1959 arrival in Nashville to his death in 1988 at the young age of 55.
“A part of the Hall of Fame induction was because Pete contributed so much to country music,” said his widow and longtime business partner, Rose Drake, to Wide Open Country. “Not just with his steel playing, but with songwriters and with artists as a producer. He had three different studios, and he contributed a lot to the music industry.”
