Garth Brooks to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame

(CBS/AP) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Garth Brooks, veteran singer Connie Smith and keyboard player Hargus "Pig" Robbins will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year.

But Brooks, 50, thinks his honor may be a little premature when you look at the long list of his influences who haven't yet been inducted.

The "Friends in Low Places" singer transformed country music, but on Tuesday he was more interested in talking about the singers who transformed him.

"You're excited," an emotional Brooks said upon hearing the news at a press conference. "You feel very honored. But at the same time there's this kind of guilt or, I don't know what it is, a kind of embarrassment, so you feel uneasy because I wouldn't be standing here today talking to you if it wasn't for Randy Travis. I wouldn't be standing here talking to you today if it wasn't for Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Steve Wariner, these guys. ... I think eventually they will get in, but it probably should've been before Garth Brooks came in. That's the whole feeling for the day."

Brooks, who has recently been performing shows in Las Vegas, took country music to a new level over a 15-year period, becoming the top-selling solo artist in the U.S. with more than 128 million albums sold. He's being inducted into the modern-era artist Hall of Fame category.

Smith, the wife of country singer Marty Stuart, will be inducted as a veterans era selection. She is among a pioneering wave of female singers who helped lay the foundation for today's success by women in country music and released her 53rd album last year.

Robbins, blind since childhood, is considered among the top session players in Nashville over a 50-year career that's included work for everyone from George Jones to Bob Dylan. He was inducted in the rotating category of recording/touring musician active before 1980.

The induction ceremony will be held at the Hall of Fame's Ford Theater in Nashville. The Country Music Association started the honor in 1961.

Tell us: Do you think Brooks deserves to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame?