The three new inductees will be welcomed into the elite songwriting fraternity by their peers at the 39th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony, presented by AT&T, on Sunday, October 18, at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

"Kye, Mark and Tammy have made many poignant and enduring contributions to the music world and certainly deserve to take their places among their gifted peers," said Roger Murrah, Chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation. "It's an honor for us to recognize them for their outstanding accomplishments."

Fleming's songwriter credits include hits such as "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" (Barbara Mandrell) and "Smoky Mountain Rain" (Ronnie Milsap). Sanders' resume is known for "I Hope You Dance" (Lee Ann Womack) and "It Matters To Me" (Faith Hill). Wynette popularized many of her own compositions, including the standard "Stand By Your Man" and "'Til I Can Make It On My Own."

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony is one of the music industry's foremost events of the year. The evening features tributes and performances of the inductees' songs by special guest artists. NaSHOF's sister organization, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), also presents its annual awards for the year's best Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artist, as well as the Top 10 "Songs I Wish I Had Written," as determined by its professional songwriters division. About the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame: Established in 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame boasts 176 members, including songwriting luminaries such as Johnny Cash, Rodney Crowell, Bob Dylan, Don & Phil Everly, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Vince Gill, Harlan Howard, Bob McDill, Roger Miller, Bill Monroe, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Carl Perkins, Dottie Rambo, Jimmie Rodgers, Cindy Walker, Jimmy Webb, Hank Williams, Sr. and Hank Williams, Jr. The future home of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will be located in the historic building at 34 Music Square East, former home of Columbia Studio A, the Quonset Hut, Columbia and Epic Records and Sony Music Nashville. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will become the first organization honoring songwriters to emerge from a virtual existence to a physical location. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit foundation dedicated to honoring and preserving the songwriting legacy of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The NaSHOF's principal purposes are to educate, archive and celebrate songwriting that is uniquely associated with the Nashville music community.

Inductee Biographical Information A "Navy brat" from Arkansas, Kye Fleming started writing songs at 14 and spent her early 20s on the Folk-music circuit performing original material. In 1977, she signed as a staff writer with Pi-Gem Music, where she and another young songwriter, Dennis Morgan, started collaborating. The catalog they created reads like a Country music greatest hits package of the '70s and '80s: "Years," "Sleeping Single In A Double Bed" and "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" (Barbara Mandrell) "Smoky Mountain Rain" and "I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World" (Ronnie Milsap), "Roll On Mississippi" (Charley Pride), as well as BMI's 1983 Country Song of the Year "Nobody" (Sylvia). Fleming was NSAI Songwriter of the Year in 1981 & 1982. She was BMI Country Songwriter of the Year in 1980, 1982 & 1983. She was BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year in 1981 & 1982. In 1987, her "Give Me Wings" (Michael Johnson) was named Billboard's Country Song of the Year. With more than 45 BMI awards - 10 of them earning Million-Air status - she is one of the most-awarded songwriters in Country music history.

California native Mark D. Sanders was a literature major, a basketball player and a surfer who, at the age of 29, came to Nashville to write songs. After 10 years, his career skyrocketed in the early 1990s, thanks to hits by Diamond Rio ("Mirror, Mirror"), Tracy Lawrence ("Runnin' Behind") and John Anderson ("Money In The Bank"). Mark was NSAI Songwriter of the Year in 1995 and 1996 and ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year in 1997. He had five #1 songs in 1995 alone. His "No News" (by Lonestar) was ASCAP's 1996 Country Song of the Year. He received four CMA Triple Play Awards, given for charting three #1 songs in a 12-month period. His "I Hope You Dance" (Lee Ann Womack) - named Song of the Year for NSAI, ASCAP, BMI, the ACM and the CMA - earned a 2000 Grammy for Best Country Song. He and co-writer Tia Sillers authored a book inspired by the song that has sold two million copies. Additionally, Mark's songs have been hits for artists such as George Strait ("Blue Clear Sky"), Ricochet ("Daddy's Money"), Faith Hill ("It Matters To Me") and Jack Ingram ("That's A Man").

The late Tammy Wynette (1942-1998), born Virginia Wynette Pugh in Itawamba County, Miss., spent her youth picking cotton, working as a beautician, a waitress and a shoe-factory employee before her rise to stardom. It was while working in Alabama as a hairdresser and a local entertainer that Tammy began making trips to Nashville, where she auditioned for Producer Billy Sherrill, who signed her to Epic Records in 1966. Tammy soon began writing songs and her collaborators included Sherrill, George Jones (to whom she was married from 1968-1975), Earl "Peanut" Montgomery and future husband George Richey. Tammy co-wrote her classic "Stand By Your Man," as well as her other Country hits "Another Lonely Song," "The Ways To Love A Man," "Two Story House," "We Sure Can Love Each Other" and "'Til I Can Make It On My Own" (also a hit for Kenny Rogers & Dottie West). Noted for her powerful, piercing vocal delivery, Tammy was named CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 1968, 1969 and 1970. She died on April 6, 1998, at age 55 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame later that year.