May 4 – This Day in Country Music

1948
Born on this day, was Tim DuBois, who wrote the satire on divorce, “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)”, which was a #1 US Country hit for Jerry Reed in 1982. He also co-wrote “Love in the First Degree” a #1 hit for Alabama in 1981. DuBois has earned five #1 singles, 24 top-ten singles, six ASCAP Awards, nine BMI Country Awards, two BMI Pop Awards and a number of other songwriting accolades.

1955
Born on this day in Winthrop, Massachusetts was Robert Ellis Orrall singer, songwriter, and record producer who has penned #1 singles for Shenandoah (Next to You, Next to Me) and Clay Walker and has also written hits for Reba McEntire, Taylor Swift, and Lindsay Lohan. In 1991 he charted the singles “Boom! It Was Over” and “A Little Bit of Her Love”, from his first country music album, Flying Colors.

1959
Born on this day in Marshville, North Carolina, was Randy Travis, singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted over 20 #1 hits. Considered a pivotal figure in the history of country music, Travis broke through in the mid-1980s with the release of his album Storms of Life, which sold more than three million copies. The album established him as a major force in the Neotraditional country movement.

1978
Born on this day in Hartstown, PA was Luke Laird country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 #1 Billboard singles, including Carrie Underwood’s “So Small”, “Temporary Home”, and “Undo It”; Blake Shelton’s “Gonna”; Sara Evans’ “A Little Bit Stronger”; Rodney Atkins’s “Take a Back Road”; Eric Church’s “Drink in My Hand”, “Give Me Back My Hometown”, and “Talladega”; Little Big Town’s “Pontoon”, and Luke Bryan’s “I See You” and “Fast.”

1987
Randy Travis released his second studio album Always & Forever which became his second US Country #1 album. The singles “Too Gone Too Long”, “I Won’t Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)”, “Forever and Ever, Amen” and “I Told You So”, all reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

1999
Curb Records released A Place in the Sun, the fifth album by Tim McGraw. This album produced the singles “Please Remember Me”, “Something Like That”, “My Best Friend”, “My Next Thirty Years” and “Some Things Never Change”, all of which reached #1 on the Hot Country Songs charts.

2017
Loretta Lynn suffered a stroke at her Hurricane Mills, Tennessee ranch weeks after celebrating her 85th birthday at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Lynn made a full recovery but postponed numerous shows she had planned in the coming months.