On This Day in Country Music: December 1

Slim Willet

Slim Willet was born Winston Lee Moore in Dublin, Texas. The disc jockey and songwriter wrote "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" and took his own recording of it to No. 1 on the country chart in 1952.

Charley Pride sat on top of the country singles chart with "She's Too Good to Be True." Johnny Duncan wrote the song, and it gave Pride his 10th No. 1 hit.

Kenny Rogers had the No. 1 country album with Eyes That See in the Dark. It reached the top in late October and stayed there for the rest of 1983.

George Strait's Lead On was the No. 1 country album. His 15th studio album gave fans two No. 1 singles, "The Big One" and "You Can't Make a Heart Love Somebody."

Lady Antebellum earned a big batch of nominations when the list for the 53rd Grammy Awards came out. "Need You Now" was up for Record and Song of the Year, and the album got an Album of the Year nod. The trio later won five Grammys.

Buck Owens cut "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" in Hollywood. He wrote it with Harlan Howard after spotting an Esso sign that said "Put a tiger in your tank." The song went to No. 1 in early 1965.

Shania Twain opened her Las Vegas show, Shania: Still the One, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The two-year run played 105 shows, sold 346,021 tickets and brought in about $43.6 million.

Fred Rose died in Nashville at 56. The songwriter and publisher teamed with Roy Acuff to start Acuff-Rose in 1942. In 1961 he joined Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers as the first three members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.