1955Born on this day, was Jimmy Fortune, Country singer, songwriter with The Statler Brothers who had the 80’s US Country #1 hits ‘Elizabeth’ and “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine”.
1970Country music winners at the 12th annual Grammy awards included; Best Country Vocal Performance “A Boy Named Sue” Johnny Cash, Best Albums Notes went to Johnny Cash (for Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline) and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female went to Tammy Wynette for “Stand By Your Man.”
1980Willie Nelson was at #1 on the Country music charts with “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” which was featured on the soundtrack to the 1979 film The Electric Horseman. The song gave Nelson his fifth #1 on the country chart.
1990Ricky Van Shelton was at #1 on the US Country music album chart with RVS III. Hit singles released from the album were “Statue of a Fool” (#2), “I’ve Cried My Last Tear for You”(#1), “I Meant Every Word He Said” (#2), and “Life’s Little Ups and Downs” (#4).
2015Emmylou Harris was named as one of the two 2015 Laureates to receive Sweden’s prestigious Polar Music Prize. The Polar Music Prize, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize for music,” each year recognizes one Laureate from contemporary music and one from the classical world.
2017American country musician and manager Don Warden died age 87. He is best known for his years on The Porter Wagoner Show as a Steel player in his band and as the manager of Wagoner and Dolly Parton. Warden was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2008.