CMT News

Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and record label executive Fred Foster have been named the 2010 recipients of the Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award and will be honored during an Aug. 29 ceremony in Nashville. As head of Nashville-based Monument Records during the '60s, Foster's artist roster included Kristofferson, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Tony Joe White, Charlie McCoy, Boots Randolph and many others. He also produced several of Orbison's biggest hits, including as "Only the Lonely," "Blue Bayou," "Crying," "Running Scared," "In Dreams" and "Oh Pretty Woman." Leadership Music is a nonprofit organization established in 1989 to educate music industry professionals. The Dale Franklin Award, named for the organization's first executive director, was created in 2004 to recognize a music industry leader who exemplifies the highest quality of leadership. Previous recipients include Garth Brooks and Emmylou Harris.