{"id":2109905,"date":"2026-08-25T00:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T21:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2109905"},"modified":"2026-08-25T00:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T21:45:27","slug":"veteran-nashville-music-journalist-and-author-vernell-hackett-dies-at-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2109905","title":{"rendered":"Veteran Nashville Music Journalist and Author Vernell Hackett Dies at 77"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vernell-Hackett-CR-John-Montgomery-billboard.jpg?w=1000″]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
\n

\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tVeteran music journalist Vernell Hackett<\/strong>, a longtime chronicler of Nashville\u2019s top music artists, died on Aug. 14 in Chicago, after suffering from cardiac arrest. Hackett was 77.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\"Dale<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tDale Morris, Nashville Manager Who Guided Careers of Alabama & Kenny Chesney, Dies at\u00a089\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
  • \n
    Mitchell Peters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n\tBorn Vernell Dell Boswank, she grew up in the small Texas town of Riesel, and graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n\tThough she initially had plans to pursue a career in crime reporting, her passion for music led her on a path to becoming a top music journalist. She and her husband Ken relocated to Buffalo, N. Y., to live closer to his family, before relocating to Nashville. Hackett worked for booking agent Tandy Rice<\/strong> at Top Billing International, where Rice represented artists including Dolly Parton, Jim Ed Brown, Jerry Clower, Porter Wagoner, Jeannie C. Riley, Tom T. Hall and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n\tHackett was known for her heartfelt and vivid storytelling, her deep connections with artists and songwriters, and her passion for music and creativity. Hackett\u2019s work in journalism included time as an editor of Country News<\/em>, Country Rhythms<\/em> and American Songwriter<\/em> magazines. Hackett was a co-founder of American Songwriter<\/em> magazine, and she served as the publication\u2019s editor-in-chief for over a decade. She also freelanced for many publications, as well as radio syndicators.<\/p>\n

    \n\tDuring her career, Hackett also worked in public relations, including time as part of the Country Music Association\u2019s communications department. In the 1980s, Hackett worked with a young rodeo cowboy by the name of Chris LeDoux, who also dreamed of being a country music singer. LeDoux went on to earn the top 10 Billboard Country Airplay chart hit \u201cWhatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy\u201d in 1992, while his song \u201cCadillac Ranch\u201d reached the chart\u2019s top 20 in 1993. LeDoux passed away in 2005, and Garth Brooks honored LeDoux\u2019s memory with the song \u201cGood Ride Cowboy.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\tHackett also represented artists including bluegrass artist Dale Ann Bradley, Americana duo Jesse and Noah, nitty gritty dirt band founding member John McEuen, and singer-songwriters Ryan Murphey, Joni Harms and Randy Huston.<\/p>\n

    \n\tShe was also an author, writing books including a biography of Carrie Underwood. She also penned the book Ghosts, Gangsters and Gamblers of Las Vegas<\/em>, with her longtime friends and colleagues Liz Cavanaugh<\/strong> and Michelle Honick<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \n\tBeyond music, Hackett was a champion for animal rights, working with rescue shelters and supporting the Robyn\u2019s Nest shelter. Many years ago, after Hackett asked that friends bring dog food in lieu of gifts to her birthday party, a longtime tradition was started, which ultimately resulted in thousands of pounds of pet food, as well as monetary donations, being made to Robyn\u2019s Nest.<\/p>\n

    \n\t\u201cVernell was my close personal friend for decades. Sometimes, we would talk two or three times a week,\u201d The Oak Ridge Boys\u2019 Duane Allen said in a statement. \u201cThe last week of her life, she sent a beautiful poem that was suitable to hang on any wall. She was always positive. I sent her a funny video of a very small dog singing and a big dog hitting the small dog with flip-flops. Vernell and I had three things in common. She loved the Lord, her friends and animals. I look forward to seeing her in Heaven, rejoicing with our many mutual friends, and I can imagine that there will be many of our four-legged friends to keep us company.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n\tMusician Michael Martin Murphey added in a statement, \u201cVernell Hackett was the kindest, most down-to-earth journalist and human being I\u2019ve ever known. She had a sense of what the common, everyday country music fan is looking for in a story\u2026Vernell went out of her way to support me on my journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\t\u201cVery sad to hear about Vernell\u2019s passing; she was always so very kind to us, and we feel privileged to have known her through the years,\u201d said David Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers said in a statement. \u201cWe send prayers and condolences to her family and loved ones.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n\tHackett is survived by her nephew Glen Boswank (Nashville, Tennessee) and niece Katy Prewitt (Kaufman, Texas).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/nashville-music-journalist-author-vernell-hackett-dead-77\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vernell-Hackett-CR-John-Montgomery-billboard.jpg?w=1000″] Trending on Billboard Veteran music journalist Vernell Hackett, a longtime chronicler of Nashville\u2019s top music artists, died on Aug. 14 in Chicago, after suffering from cardiac arrest. Hackett was 77. Related Dale Morris, Nashville Manager Who Guided Careers of Alabama & Kenny Chesney, Dies at\u00a089 Mitchell Peters Born Vernell Dell Boswank, she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2109905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2109905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109905\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2109905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2109905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2109905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}