Jerry Bradley

Jerry Owen Bradley (January 30, 1940 – July 17, 2023) was an American music executive known for his role in country music. As head of RCA Records in Nashville from 1973 to 1982, Bradley was involved in the marketing and creation of the first platinum album in country music, Wanted! The Outlaws, which reached that mark in 1976. He also worked as an engineer and producer at his father’s studio, Bradley’s Barn (Country Music Hall of Fame, Source). Bradley was inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019.

Early life Bradley was born on January 30, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the son of Owen Bradley, who later headed the Decca Records Nashville studios (later MCA Nashville, and then part of Universal Music Group). Bradley started his high school years at Montgomery Bell Academy, but then switched to Hillsboro High School over a disagreement with Montgomery Bell and their administration. After graduation, Bradley served two years in the United States Army. He would learn the music business at the Forest Hills Music Studio, the official name of "Bradley's Barn", during the 1960s. Other artists who also recorded at Bradley's Barn during the 1960s included Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot, Warner Mack, The Beau Brummels, and Dinah Shore. Bradley told his father about a possible job at RCA Nashville to which Owen replied, "You already have a job."

Comedian Ray Stevens recorded three albums while Bradley was in charge of RCA Nashville. Stevens' most notable album was Shriner's Convention with the title track being its most notable song, both in 1980.

After RCA After stepping down from RCA Records in 1982, Bradley would become head of the Opryland Music Group, an organization created from Gaylord Entertainment's purchase of Acuff-Rose Music in 1985. Bradley stayed as head of Opryland Music Group until his 2003 retirement, when Sony Music Group purchased Opryland Music Group's publishing. Bradley's wife Connie worked for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) offices in Nashville from 1980 until her 2010 retirement and was CMA Board president in 1989. In 2022, she was posthumously honored with the ACM Icon Award at the Academy of Country Music Honors. Her grand-daughter, Lillian Grace Bradley, accepted the award on her behalf at the ceremony held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee (MusicRow, 2022; The Tennessean, 2022). Another uncle, Charlie, and a cousin, Bobby, were noted recording studio engineers.

Honors In 2019, Bradley was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, This made Bradley the third member of his family inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, after his father Owen (1974) and uncle Harold (2006).