In 2007, the world lost two of its most revered Country Music Hall of Fame members --
Porter Wagoner and Hank Thompson -- along with a host of other influential singers, songwriters, musicians and executives. Here's the roll call:
Patrick Bourque, 29, former bassist for Emerson Drive, Sept. 25 in Montreal.
Frank Callari, 55, former manager of the Mavericks, Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams and Junior Brown, Oct. 26 in Nashville.
Henson Cargill, 66, recording artist whose signature hit was the 1968 "Skip a Rope," March 24 in Oklahoma City, of complications from surgery.
Tex Davis (real name William Doucette), 93, former record promoter and co-writer of the Gene Vincent rock classic "Be-Bop-A-Lula," Aug. 29 in Nashville.
Ralph Ezell, 54, former bass player for the group Shenandoah, Nov. 30, in South Dakota, of an apparent heart attack.
Dan Fogelberg, 56, award-winning singer and songwriter, Dec. 16 in Maine, of prostate cancer.
Ray Goins, 71, bluegrass banjo player and former member of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers and the Goins Brothers bands, July 2 in Pikeville, Ky.
Lee Hazlewood, 78, record producer and songwriter best known for writing Nancy Sinatra's 1996 hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," Aug. 4 in Henderson, Nev., of renal cancer.
Doyle Holly, 70, former bassist for Buck Owens' Buckaroos and later a solo artist, Jan. 13 in Nashville, of prostate cancer.
John Hughey, 73, former steel guitarist for Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Vince Gill and the Time Jumpers, Nov. 18 in Nashville.
Pete (Sneaky Pete) Kleinow, 72, steel guitarist and original member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Jan. 6 in Petaluma, Calif., following a battle with Alzheimer's.
Hilly Kristal, 75, founder of New York's CBGB music club, Aug. 28 in New York City, of lung cancer.
Janis Martin, 67, rockabilly singer once billed as "the Female Elvis," Sept. 3 in Durham, N.C., of cancer.
George McCorkle, 60, co-founder of and guitarist for the Marshall Tucker Band, June 29 near Nashville, of cancer.
Robert W. McLean, 60, investment manager and philanthropist who donated Mother Maybelle's signature 1928 Gibson L-5 guitar and Bill Monroe's 1923 Gibson F-5 mandolin to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, circa Sept. 25 in Shelbyville, Tenn., an apparent suicide.
Terry McMillan, 53, harmonica player and percussionist, Feb. 2 in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Jim Nesbitt, 75, writer and performer of such comic country songs as "Please Mr. Kennedy" and "A Tiger in My Tank," Nov. 29 in Florence, S.C.
Jim Porter, 79, steel guitarist and one of the earliest members of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys band, Dec. 15 in Hoover, Ala.
Boots Randolph, 80, pop recording artist ("Yakety Sax," "Hey, Mr. Sax Man") and former Nashville A-team saxophone sideman, July 3 in Nashville.
Del Reeves, 73, Grand Ole Opry star, impressionist and recording artist ("Girl on the Billboard," "The Belles of Southern Bell"), Jan. 1 in Centerville, Tenn.
Glen Sutton, 69, member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and producer and former husband of singer Lynn Anderson, April 18 in Nashville, of an apparent heart attack.
Clarence "Tater" Tate, 76, former fiddler and bass player in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys band and later a sideman for other mainstream bluegrass acts, Oct. 17 in Jonesborough, Tenn., of lung cancer.
Hughie Thomasson, 55, pioneering southern rock guitarist and member of the Outlaws band, Sept. 9 in Brooksville, Fla., of an apparent heart attack.
Hank Thompson, 82, songwriter, bandleader, member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and singer of the 1952 hit "The Wild Side of Life," Nov. 6 near Fort Worth, Texas, of lung cancer.
Porter Wagoner, 80, singer, songwriter, producer, television personality, member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame and career-making mentor to Dolly Parton, Oct. 28 in Nashville, of lung cancer.
Irving Waugh, 94, radio and television broadcaster instrumental in gaining national television exposure for country music during the '50s and '60s and who subsequently championed the creation of Fan Fair and the construction of the Opryland theme park, April 27 in Nashville.
Chickie Williams, 88, long-time performer on the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree and wife of fellow Jamboree cast member, Doc Williams, Nov. 18 in Wheeling, W.Va.
Lawton Williams, 85, writer of the country standards "Fraulein" and "Farewell Party," July 26 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Hy Zaret, 99, writer of the lyrics for "Unchained Melody," July 2 in Westport, Conn.