1944Eddy Arnold held his first recording session at the WSM radio studios in Nashville, where he recorded his first hit, “Each Minute Seems A Million Years,” which went on to become a #5 hit.
1956The Million Dollar Quartet legend was born when a Memphis newspaper photographed Johnny Cash and Elvis Presely who had dropped in on a Carl Perkins session (for “Matchbox”) at Sun Studios, with Jerry Lee Lewis as piano sideman.
1971George Strait married his high school sweetheart, Normain in Mexico. In this same year he enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii as a part of the 25th Infantry Division.
1991The Judds performed the final show of their farewell tour at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Naomi Judd later retired, suffering from a potentially fatal strain of hepatitis, leaving Wynonna to pursue a solo career.
2003Ricky Skaggs received five nominations for the annual Grammy awards, more than any other country artist, he went on to win Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal for “A Simple Life.”
2010Merle Haggard accepted the prestigious award for lifetime achievement and “outstanding contribution to American culture” from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
2012Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings released The Complete Columbia Album Collection a box set by Johnny Cash. It included 63 CDs, including 59 original albums, three bonus discs: Johnny Cash With His Hot & Blue Guitar, which included recordings from Cash’s pre-Columbia period with Sun Records.
2021American country music singer and musician Stonewall Jackson died in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 89. His breakthrough came in the country Top 40 in late 1958, with a song written by a young George Jones, “Life to Go”.