NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Country and Western music stars Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty and Johnny Bond, a singer-songwriter who performed for years with Gene Autry, were named Wednesday as the latest additions to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The three will be formally inducted into the hall of fame during the 33rd annual Country Music Association awards ceremony in Nashville on Sept. 22. Twitty died in 1993, and Bond passed away in 1978.

Parton, 53, has topped the country charts more than 20 times. Songs she has written include "I Will Always Love You," a No. 1 country hit in 1974 and 1982 that also sold 4 million copies for singer Whitney Houston in 1992.

Parton has starred in half a dozen movies and earned an Oscar nomination for her film debut in 9 To 5 in 1980. Her title song from that movie topped the pop and country charts in December of that year.

Also among her biggest hits were "Here You Come Again" in 1977, and her 1983 duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands In The Stream." She also runs Dollywood, an amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Twitty, born Harold Jenkins in Mississippi in 1933, broke into music in the late 1950s as a pop signer with "It's Only Make Believe.'' He went country a few years later and recorded the No. 1 hit "Hello Darlin'."

During his career he had more than 50 records that hit the No. 1 spot. He teamed up with Loretta Lynn on a number of songs.

Bond was a songwriter, singer and actor who joined forces with Autry in 1939 and performed on the singing cowboy's CBS radio show for 15 years. He also appeared in films with Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy and Tex Ritter.

He began recording for Columbia in 1941, and his included "Hot Rod Lincoln" as well as a No. 1 single, "Ten Little Bottles."

The three performers were selected for the hall of fame by members of the Country Music Association from a field of suggested nominees. The Hall of Fame and Museum, founded in 1961, is located on "Music Row" in Nashville, but plans have been announced to move and expand it.

Reuters/Variety