1953
Born on this day in Lexington, North Carolina, was Terry McMillan, country musician who played harmonica and percussion. He became a very in-demand session musician working with, Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Kenny Chesney, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Trisha Yearwood, and Dixie Chicks. He died at the age of 53 on 2 Feb 2007.
1969
Born on this day in York, Pennsylvania, was Martie Maguire, singer-songwriter, violin and gutar with the Dixie Chicks and Court Yard Hounds. Of the Dixie Chicks’ twenty-five singles, six have reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart: “There’s Your Trouble”, “Wide Open Spaces”, “You Were Mine”, “Cowboy Take Me Away”, “Without You”, and “Travelin’ Soldier”.
1974
Born on this day in Mineral Wells, Texas, was Shane McAnally singer, songwriter and producer. McAnally has written a string of American Country Music hits including Kenny Chesney’s singles “Somewhere with You” and “Come Over”, Jake Owen’s 2011 single “Alone with You”, Luke Bryan’s single “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”, The Band Perry’s single “Better Dig Two”, Lady Antebellum’s single “Downtown” and Miranda Lambert’s single “Mama’s Broken Heart”.
1981
Alabama was named instrumental group and vocal group of the year, at the 15th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Entertainer of the Year (for that year), Barbara Mandrell.
1992
Capital Nashville released “Somewhere Other Than the Night”, by Garth Brooks which became a US #1 hit. It was the second single released from his album, The Chase and his fifteenth overall.
1993
Faith Hill released her debut album, Take Me as I Am. Four singles were released from the album. The first two, “Wild One” and “Piece of My Heart” (a cover of the 1967 song by Erma Franklin), reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
1997John Denver was killed at the age of 53 when his experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane, crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Pacific Grove, California. The crash badly disfigured Denver’s head and body, making identification by dental records impossible, records of his fingerprints were used to confirm that the pilot was indeed the singer. He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the 1970s earning twelve gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, “Annie’s Song”, “Rocky Mountain High”, and “Sunshine on My Shoulders”.
