Hadley barrett born

Hadley Barrett, 87, of Kersey, Colorado, passed away March 2, 2017, in Aurora, Colorado.

He was born to CJ and Mattie (Hill) Barrett in North Platte on Sept. 18, 1929.

Hadley started his rodeo career in the early 1950s. In the early days, Hadley would ride bulls and bareback horses, fill in for the announcer then set up and play the rodeo dance all night long.

Hadley barrett music

Hadley and his band “Hadley Barrett and the Westerners” played music for 34 years. They were inducted into the Nebraska Country Music Hall of Fame and even featured in the Smithsonian.

Hadley continued to play in his band while his announcing career grew around the Nebraska rodeo circuit in the early ’60s. Once the Buffalo Bill Rodeo, the Beutler family and other rodeo professionals heard about Barrett, it wasn’t long before professional rodeo came calling.

A PRCA member since 1965, Barrett had announced all the big rodeos and a great number of the smaller ones across the country.

Barrett was named PRCA Announcer of the