Ballard inducted in to UM hall of fame

By Special to The Democrat | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, October 3, 2008

OXFORD — Eight people are to receive the University of Mississippi Alumni Association’s highest annual honors today.

Inductees are Glen Ballard of Beverly Hills, Calif., formerly of Natchez; Mike Glenn of Memphis; John Grisham of North Garden, Va.; Ed Meek of Oxford; and Shepard Smith of New York, N.Y. Herb Dewees will be recognized posthumously with the Alumni Hall of Fame designation.

A reception for the honorees will be at 6 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn at Ole Miss.

Six-Time Grammy Award winner Ballard, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975 is one of popular music’s most accomplished producers/songwriters and arrangers. His records have sold more than 150 million records worldwide, and he has worked with a diverse array of the finest singers and artists in the business, from Aretha Franklin to Van Halen and Aerosmith.

Among the many highlights of his career are the 10-times-platinum debut of Wilson Phillips, multi-platinum No Doubt record “Return of Saturn” and The Dave Matthews Band multi-platinum “Everyday,” which he co-wrote and produced.

One of Ballard’s biggest successes involved chart-topping, multi-platinum album “Jagged Little Pill,” which Ballard co-wrote and produced for Alanis Morissette. The 1995 record was named Album of the Decade, by Billboard and was the top selling artist debut album of all time. For the original album, Ballard received Grammys for Best Rock Song, “You Oughta Know,” Best Rock Album, Best Video and the prestigious Album of the Year.