Inducted 1993
W.F. “Jim” Myers
(1917 – 2002)
Willis F. “Jim” Myers was a long-time executive with the performing rights organization SESAC and a founding member of the Gospel Music Association.
Willis “Jim” Myers was a music executive with the music rights company Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC) from 1947 until his retirement in 1991, a career spanning 44 years. One of his roles during his time at SESAC was Vice President in charge of international relations.
Myers was one of the founding fathers of the Gospel Music Association when it formed in 1963 and served on the GMA board as a permanent member for many years, including three stints as GMA President. In those earlier days of GMA’s formation, Myers encouraged the SESAC organization to be supportive of gospel and Christian music, resulting in SESAC taking the lead among the performing rights organizations in supporting gospel music. Myers and fellow SESAC executive Norman Odlum labored for years supporting the GMA through their presence and leadership, including encouraging the then family-owned organization to help via songwriter signings and financial assistance.
Myers was a lifelong resident of the north New Jersey area and for many years maintained a summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He was a graduate of Rutgers University and a captain in the U.S. Army during WWII.
Myers’ heart for Gospel Music and its Creator was evident when in the 1987 Dove Awards program he wrote, “So let the giving and accepting of Dove Awards be done in deep humility…in the realization that we are simply instruments in the hands of the Divine, that whether one wins or loses is not real importance…what is really important is whether each of us as true sons and daughters of the Cross carries the dove of peace and love in our hearts.”
The Gospel Music Association is eternally grateful to Jim Myers for his support, encouragement and leadership in promoting the advancement of Gospel Music.
Content/source: NY Times (2002) and writing by GMA Hall Of Fame staff member Jon Robberson Sr. (April, 2021)