James “Jim” Staton Foglesong (July 26, 1922 - July 9, 2013) was an American country music producer and recording label executive who enjoyed a five-decade career. In 2004, he became one of the few non-performers to earn a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame. For more than a half-century, he inspired many country artists and music professionals with his strong ethical principles and high standards of conduct.

He was born in the coal mining community of Lundale, Logan County, where his father, William Russell Foglesong II, was an executive for the Amherst Fuel Company. In 1932, his parents, Russell and Norma, moved their young family (Bill, Jim, Martha Faye, and Suzi) to South Charleston, where he attended public schools. During World War II, he served with the U.S. Army 10^th Armored Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

At the war’s end, with financing through the new G. I. Bill, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Coming from a musical family, he began singing in church and later on live local radio shows. In 1950, after graduating college, he sought work wherever he could. After becoming a recording session backup singer, he began studying the techniques of that era’s greatest producers. In 1951, he took a job at Columbia Records, transferring the label’s 78 RPM disc catalog to “Long Play” (LP) tape. A few years later, he helped launch Columbia’s Epic subsidiary, further expanding his distribution and promotion skills.

Over the next 20 years, he worked for RCA-Victor until moving to Nashville in 1970 to head the A&R (artists and repertoire) division at Dot Records and became president of the company in 1973. He found success with artists such as Roy Clark, Donna Fargo, and Hank Thompson. After the American Broadcasting Corporation bought Dot in 1974, he continued his winning streak with recordings by Barbara Mandrell, The Oak Ridge Boys, Don Williams, and many other artists.

After MCA Records purchased ABC in 1979, Foglesong’s roster of talent expanded to include Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and Conway Twitty. He also signed new artists such as George Strait, Reba McEntire, Lee Greenwood, and Gene Watson. As president of Capitol Records’ Nashville division from 1984 to 1989, he oversaw the developing careers of Mel McDaniel and Dan Seals, who were already signed to Capitol, plus a host of newcomers, including Sawyer Brown, Suzy Bogguss, T. Graham Brown, and superstar Garth Brooks.

Foglesong was influential and highly respected for his integrity as an artist-friendly producer. While working in Nashville, records he promoted earned 46 Grammy, Country Music Association, and American Country Music awards. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he chaired the boards of directors of the Country Music Association and the Country Music Foundation. In addition, he served as a board member and president of the W. O. Smith Nashville Community Music School and as a board member of Leadership Music. He became an adjunct professor in Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music in 1991 and directed the music business program at Nashville’s Trevecca Nazarene College.

He died in Nashville at age 90.