Waylon Jennings is set to receive a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame's 2027 class, a rare posthumous honor for the country outlaw tracked on award watch, Saving Country Music reported. The announcement came last week and places him alongside fellow musical honorees Karol G, David Guetta, the Ramones, Grandmaster Flash, Marc Shaiman, Sia, Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park and Lil Wayne.
Jennings's son, Shooter Jennings, credited the people behind the push for the star. "Thanks to the amazing Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to our great friend John Arakaki and the persistence and follow through of my wife," he wrote of the honor, adding, "I could not be more proud to permanently honor him among the stars who have come before!!"
The recognition arrives despite, rather than because of, Waylon Jennings's own relationship with awards ceremonies. He skipped his own induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001 and rarely showed up for honors of any kind during his lifetime, a habit Saving Country Music framed as part of what made him "cool" rather than a snub of the institutions themselves.
A Walk of Fame star is not unheard of for country artists, but it isn't automatic either. Roy Acuff, Eddy Arnold and Gene Autry were inducted in the Walk's inaugural 1961 class, and Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, Patsy Cline, Randy Travis and Vince Gill have all since received stars; Dolly Parton has two, one solo and one with Trio alongside Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Waylon's longtime running partner Willie Nelson, notably, still does not have one.
The timing follows a renewed wave of interest in Jennings's catalog driven by his son. Shooter Jennings released the well-received archival album "Songbird" in 2025, and a second archival release, "Diamonds," the middle installment of a planned three-album series, is due Nov. 16.
The facts
- Set to receive a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame's 2027 class
- Will be a rare posthumous recipient
- Joins honorees including Karol G, David Guetta, the Ramones, Grandmaster Flash, Smashing Pumpkins and Lil Wayne
- Skipped his own Country Music Hall of Fame induction in 2001
- Son Shooter Jennings released an archival album, "Songbird," in 2025
- A second archival album, "Diamonds," the middle of a planned three-album series, is due Nov. 16
- Willie Nelson does not have a Hollywood Walk of Fame star
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