Your daily look at this day in country history, from classic Opry nights to the newest No. 1 hits.
On April 14, 1986, Alabama took Entertainer of the Year at the 21st Academy of Country Music Awards, held at Knott's Berry Farm in California. In 2004, Dolly Parton received the Living Legend medal from the Library of Congress in Washington. Stuart Duncan and Loretta Lynn share this birthday.
Alabama took Entertainer of the Year at the 21st Academy of Country Music Awards, held at Knott's Berry Farm in California. Reba McEntire and George Strait won the top vocalist awards, and "Highwayman" was named Single Record of the Year.
Loretta Lynn was born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. In 1972 she became the first woman named CMA Entertainer of the Year. Her life story, Coal Miner's Daughter, became a 1980 movie that won Sissy Spacek an Oscar.
D. L. Menard was born in Erath, Louisiana. Known as the "Cajun Hank Williams," he met his hero in 1951. His album Le Trio Cadien earned a Grammy nomination.
Stuart Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia. The bluegrass picker plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo, and he has backed George Strait, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Alison Krauss.
Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" reached No. 1 on Billboard's country charts. Produced by Chet Atkins, it spent eight weeks on top and also went to No. 7 on the pop chart.
LeAnn Rimes held the top spot on the country albums chart with Unchained Melody: The Early Years. The Curb Records set gathered songs she cut before Blue, including "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "I Will Always Love You."
Dolly Parton received the Living Legend medal from the Library of Congress in Washington. The honor recognizes people who have made a lasting mark on American culture.
Source: loc.govGeorge Jones put out "She Thinks I Still Care" on United Artists. Jack Clement first sang it to him at Gulf Coast Studio in Beaumont, Texas. The song spent six weeks at No. 1 on the country chart.
George Jones released "He Stopped Loving Her Today," the first single from I Am What I Am. Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman wrote it. Many polls have called it the greatest country song ever recorded.
Dolly Parton put out her album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly. Both of its singles went to No. 1 on the country chart, "Starting Over Again" and "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You."
Reba McEntire released Love Somebody, her 29th studio album. It went to No. 1 on the country albums chart.
Hal Ketchum's wife, Andrea, shared that dementia had ended his days on the road. The country singer died in Fischer, Texas, on Nov. 23, 2020, at 67.
Loretta Lynn (1932), D. L. Menard (1932) and Stuart Duncan (1964) were all born on this date.
It depends on the year. In 1958, Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" reached No. 1 on Billboard's country charts. In 1997, LeAnn Rimes held the top spot on the country albums chart with Unchained Melody: The Early Years.
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