Connie Bradley
An Iconic Industry Leader Connie Bradleywho spent more than 30 years with ASCAP, died Wednesday morning (March 24) in Fort Myers, Florida.
Bradley joined ASCAP in 1976 and rose to the position of Senior Vice President and Nashville Chapter President. Under her leadership, ASCAP signed and championed the careers of numerous artists, including Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks, Rodney Crowell, Billy Currington, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts, John Rich, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood and Chris Young. She led ASCAP Nashville until her retirement in 2010, when she took on a strategic advisory role.
Bradley was born Connie Darnell in Fayetteville, Tennessee on October 1, 1945. She grew up in Shelbyville, Tennessee, studied at Middle Tennessee State University, and worked for News Channel 5 and in the mortgage industry before beginning her career in the music industry. She worked for Famous Music/Dot Records, the publicity firm of Bill Hudson & Associates, and RCA Records before joining ASCAP.
Bradley was one of a handful of pioneering women in the Nashville music industry, a group that included Jo Walker Meader, Donna Hilley and Frances Preston.
Connie Bradley and her husband Jerry Bradley, who were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019. Photo: Don Jones/CMA
A Music Row stalwart, Bradley has been honored multiple times for her achievements and contributions to the music industry. Bradley received the Nashville Symphony Orchestra's highest honor, the Harmony Award, in 2006. She was inducted into the SOURCE Hall of Fame in 2012.
The main conference room in ASCAP's Nashville office was named the Connie Bradley Board Room in 2010.
She was awarded the Country Music Association's Irving Waugh Award of Excellence in 2018. Bradley served on the CMA Board of Directors from 1983 to 2012, where she was elected president and chair.
(Left) Connie and Jerry Bradley and Harold and Patsy Bradley in front of the Owen Bradley statue on Music Row. Photo: Courtesy of Jerry Bradley
Bradley is survived by her husband, well-known music executive Jerry Bradley, and step-sons Lee Jankiff and Clay Bradley of BMI.
Plans for a memorial service have not been announced at this time.
“As head of ASCAP's Nashville chapter for more than three decades, Connie Bradley was a mentor to country music's greatest songwriters and an integral part of ASCAP history. She was an unconventional leader in country music, with a huge heart and a fierce advocate for the songwriters she loved so dearly. ASCAP and country music have lost an iconic leader today, and our heartfelt condolences go out to her family and the many songwriting communities who loved her,” ASCAP Chairman and President and songwriter Paul Williams said of Bradley's passing.
“We are so sad to hear of Connie's passing. She was one of the pioneering women in the Nashville music industry, along with Frances Preston and Joe Walker Meader. Her passion for artists, songs and the country music industry as a whole paved the way for so many. I will personally miss her class, her stories and her humor. We mourn Jerry's passing and send our heartfelt condolences to him and his family,” said Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern.
LB Cantrell is Editor and Director of Operations for MusicRow magazine, overseeing, managing and running all operations for the company. LB oversees all MusicRow-related content, including the magazine's six annual print editions and online news. She is a Georgia native and graduate of Middle Tennessee State University's Recording Industry Management program.
