John Anderson looked back on a musical life well lived in his heartfelt, emotional speech at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Medallion Ceremony on Sunday (Oct. 20).

Anderson was one of three inductees into the Hall of Fame for 2024, entering country music’s highest institution in the Veterans Era Artist category. A trio of tribute performances from Lucinda Williams, Del McCoury Band and Shawn Camp celebrated his musical catalog during the ceremony, and Bobby Braddock officially presented Anderson with his medallion.

When he took the stage to speak, Anderson’s voice trembled as he spoke of the magnitude of the honor, and offered his gratitude toward the friends, collaborators, parents and siblings who helped him along his way.

But some of the most emotional moments came when he spoke about his children and grandchildren, as well as his wife Jamie, with whom he celebrated his 41st wedding anniversary just two days before the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

“I’m so glad to have had this time with her and I can only look forward to each and every day we get to spend together,” Anderson reflected. “She’s stood behind me through all my wavery decisions and all the business through the years that we did. She’s just been remarkable as far as being support and someone to stand with and stand beside me.”

Elsewhere in his speech, Anderson looked back to the earliest days of his career, when he arrived in Nashville with nothing but a guitar and $40, and thought that making any money over that original sum would be a “bonus.”

Now, all these years later, he’s grateful to have made that bonus — and to have experienced the one-of-a-kind, unpredictable life of a musician in country music.

“There’s something to be said for running around out there on the edge. There’s a lot of excitement there,” Anderson mused.

“There’s also something to be said for having enough good judgment, and maybe a little luck, not to run over the edge of the cliff. I’m very proud that never happened to me. I saw a lot of my friends, if they didn’t run over the cliff, they were just hanging on, so I’m glad that I’m where I’m standing here today.”

“Again, I can’t say how much this means to me,” he continued, turning back to his medallion. “For an old boy who took off from his hometown with a guitar and 40 dollars, like I say, it’s been a long and winding road.”

At the end of his speech, Anderson thanked God for giving him a lifelong love of music.

“It’s one of the greatest honors that anybody in our profession could ever have, to be on this stage now,” he said.