1950
Sun Studio was opened by Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with Sun Records. Rock-and-roll, country music, and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded there throughout the mid to late 1950s
1966
Jack Greene was at #1 on the US Country charts with “There Goes My Everything”, which spent 7 weeks at the top of the chart. The song won several awards, including “Single of the Year” and “Song of the Year” at the very first CMA Awards.
1976
C. W. McCall was at #1 on the US country album chart with Black Bear Road, which included the #1 hit novelty song, “Convoy”. The song itself was largely responsible for starting a nationwide citizens’ band radio craze. The song “Black Bear Road” in turn popularized the now-infamous road itself, along with its “You don’t HAVE to be crazy to drive this road – but it helps” sign.
1983John Anderson was at #1 on the Country chart with the John Scott Sherrill song “Wild and Blue.” The track was Anderson’s eleventh country hit and the first of five #1’s on the country chart.
1991
Billy Ray Cyrus signed his first recording contract with Mercury Records.
2009
Taylor Swift was at #1 on the country chart with Fearless. The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and Best Country Album. Swift’s Album of the Year win made her the youngest person ever at the age of 20 to receive that award. Fearless was also the first album in history to win the American Music Award, Academy of Country Music Award, Country Music Association Award, and Grammy Award for Album of The Year in the same year making it the most awarded album in the history of country music.
2014
Phil Everly died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, just sixteen days prior to his 75th birthday. The cause of his death was complications attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a combination of emphysema and bronchitis), brought on by a lifetime of smoking. The Everly Brothers were elected to Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
