Three musicians and two writers will be inducted into the hall of fame at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience. Photo courtesy TheMAX

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Three musicians and two writers will be inducted into the hall of fame at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience.

The museum in Meridian is also known as the MAX.

Museum leaders announced Monday at the state Capitol in Jackson that the inductees this year are the late soul singer Sam Cooke, from Clarksdale; the late blues composer W.C. Handy, also from Clarksdale; country music singer and musician Marty Stuart, from Philadelphia; “The Color Purple” author Alice Walker, who lived and worked in Jackson in the 1960s and '70s; and the late journalist and abolitionist Ida B. Wells, from Holly Springs.

The MAX began inducting Hall of Fame members in 2017. The museum opened the following year.