Your daily look at this day in country history, from classic Opry nights to the newest No. 1 hits.
On February 5, 1994, Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles was the No. 1 country album. In 2023, At the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Willie Nelson won Best Country Album for A Beautiful Time and Best Country Solo Performance for "Live Forever." Drummer Hal Blaine and Claude King share this birthday.
Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles was the No. 1 country album. Country stars like Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood and Clint Black each took on an Eagles favorite. It later won CMA Album of the Year.
Claude King was born in Keithville, Louisiana. He is best known for "Wolverton Mountain," his 1962 million-seller written with Merle Kilgore and spun from the story of Kilgore's uncle. King died in Shreveport in 2013 at 90.
Drummer Hal Blaine was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. A core member of the Wrecking Crew studio players, he played on dozens of No. 1 hits for artists like Glen Campbell and John Denver. He died in 2019 at 90.
Henson Cargill was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His song "Skip a Rope" spent five weeks at No. 1 on the country chart in 1968. He died in 2007.
Sara Evans was born in Boonville, Missouri. Her song "No Place That Far" went to No. 1 on the country chart. Years later she topped it again with "A Little Bit Stronger," co-written by Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum.
Little Big Town held No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart with Nightfall, their ninth studio album. It spent one week on top before Luke Combs returned to the spot.
At the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Willie Nelson won Best Country Album for A Beautiful Time and Best Country Solo Performance for "Live Forever." Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde won for "Never Wanted to Be That Girl," and "'Til You Can't" took Best Country Song.
Ray Charles started recording Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music at Capitol Studios in New York City. The album's lead single, "I Can't Stop Loving You," became a huge seller, and both the song and the album went gold that year.
Toby Keith died at 62 in Oklahoma after a battle with stomach cancer. His first single, "Should've Been a Cowboy," went to No. 1 in 1993 and kicked off a career of 19 studio albums and dozens of chart-topping hits.
Claude King (1923), Drummer Hal Blaine (1929), Henson Cargill (1941) and Sara Evans (1971) were all born on this date.
It depends on the year. In 1994, Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles was the No. 1 country album. In 2020, Little Big Town held No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart with Nightfall, their ninth studio album.
Every entry is checked by the Country Thang Daily editors. Spot something we got wrong? Let us know and we’ll fix it and note the change.