1936
Born on this day in Ferriday, Louisiana, was Mickey Gilley, American country music singer and musician and the cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl McVoy, Jim Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart. Among his biggest hits is “Room Full of Roses,” “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time,” and the remake of the Soul hit “Stand by Me”.
2005
Singer-songwriter (and rodeo champion), Chris Ledoux died. During his career LeDoux recorded 36 albums (many self-released) which have sold more than six million copies in the US. Ledoux was nominated for a Grammy Award and the Academy of Country Music -Music Pioneer Award.
2008Taylor Swift was at #1 on the US Country music album chart with her eponymous debut studio album, which topped the Country Albums Chart for twenty-four non-consecutive weeks.
2015
Songwriter and recording artist Wayne Kemp, who penned hit tunes for George Strait, George Jones and Johnny Cash, among many others, died at Macon County General Hospital in Lafayette, Tennessee. He was suffering from multiple ailments and was on kidney dialysis when he passed away. Kemp was 74. One of his most well-known songs gave Johnny Cash his 1976 #1 hit “One Piece at a Time”.
