Posted by Buddy Iahn | Jul 16, 2024
Brooks and his band will perform at the event which will air on PBS this fall
Iconic music series Austin City Limits (ACL) kicks off the 50th anniversary celebrations by welcoming a new Austin City Limits Hall of Fame honoree into its ranks for this milestone: Garth Brooks. For the first time in the decade-long history of the ACL Hall of Fame, only one inductee will be honored at this epic tenth anniversary Hall of Fame celebration taking place on September 5th at ACL’s studio home, ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Brooks and his band will perform for the occasion. Brooks anchored ACL’s 25th anniversary broadcast season with a pair of appearances and returns now for the Hall of Fame salute to launch the trailblazing television series’ record-making 50th season. Musical highlights and Brooks’ induction from the Hall of Fame ceremony will air as a special hourlong broadcast of Austin City Limits as a highlight of the program’s golden anniversary Season 50 which premieres on September 28th on PBS.
“To be part of anything Austin City Limits is and always has been an honor,” Brooks shares. “I am humbled and grateful to not only be a part of the 50th Anniversary, but to be inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame is over the top.”
The event is open to the public and a limited number of tickets will be on sale August 2nd at acltv.com/hall-of-fame via AXS ticketing. Sponsor packages are available now. This event will be a phone-free experience. Upon arrival at the venue, tickets will be scanned and all phones will be secured in Yondr cases that will be unlocked at the end of the event. Austin City Limits 10th Annual Hall of Fame Honors is produced by Austin PBS and proceeds benefit the public television station.
2024 marks the 50th Anniversary of the live music beacon Austin City Limits, which taped its debut pilot episode on October 17, 1974; the pioneering series then premiered on PBS in 1975. ACL celebrates its remarkable legacy with a yearlong celebration through 2025. Since its inception in 2014, the ACL Hall of Fame has honored legendary artists who have played a pivotal role in the trailblazing music series’ outstanding half-century as a music institution. The inaugural awards in 2014 honored Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Garth Brooks has longtime ties to ACL, with three legendary Austin City Limits performances. He first appeared on the program in 1990, during Season 15, at the beginning of his career. The celebrated artist returned a decade later to both open and close ACL’s milestone Season 25 with two hourlong episodes.
Brooks returned to ACL in 2021 for a memorable pair of intimate, non-broadcast events to close Studio 6A on the University of Texas campus, the fabled soundstage where the program first started recording in 1974. Brooks carved his name into ACL’s history with the final performances in the historic studio that was the show’s home from 1974 to 2010, before a move to downtown Austin. The singular artist performed the special benefit shows solo acoustic to a sold-out audience of 200 fans per night, as a fundraiser for Austin PBS, sharing stories, taking song requests, and answering questions from the audience.
“Garth is a special friend—there’s no one else quite like him,” states longtime ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “He never forgets his roots, or the people who were there for him in those early days. He hit the ACL stage just as his career was taking off, kicked off our 25th anniversary season, and now almost 25 years later, it’s our turn to honor him.”
Austin City Limits Hall of Fame celebrates the legacy of legendary artists and key individuals who have played a vital part in the pioneering music series’ remarkable half-century as a music institution. The Hall of Fame has inducted over twenty artists at nine previous ceremonies including Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Lloyd Maines, Asleep at the Wheel, Loretta Lynn, Guy Clark, Flaco Jiménez, Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Roy Orbison, Rosanne Cash, The Neville Brothers, Ray Charles, Marcia Ball, Los Lobos, Lyle Lovett, Buddy Guy, Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, Wilco, Alejandro Escovedo, Sheryl Crow and Joe Ely. The ninth annual Hall of Fame in 2023 welcomed John Prine and Trisha Yearwood to its ranks.
