October is "Country Music Month," by Presidential Necree.
"October"
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Charles Grean, songwriter/producer/record company executive, born NYC 1913.
Skeets McDonald, born "Enos William McDonald," Greenway, AR 1915.
Bonnie Owens, born "Bonnie Campbell" in Blanchard, OK 1932. Bonnie is the former wife of Buck Owens, and Merle Haggard.
Ernest Tubb's "Slippin' Around" topped the charts 1949.
The "Town and Country Time Jamboree," debuted on WMAL TV in Washington, DC 1956.
Dave Gibson, "The Gibson/Miller Band," born El Dorado, AR 1956.
Capitol Records released Buck Owens' LP "Your For Me" 1962.
Kelly Willis born Lawton, OK 1968.
Loretta Lynn recorded "Coal Miner's Daughter," 1969.
Texas Bill Strength, age 45, recording artist/DJ died as the result of an auto accident 1973.
Tanya Tucker's "Blood Red and Goin' Down" was # 1 in 1973.
President Carter proclaimed October as "Country Music Month," in 1980.
Conway Twitty's "Tight Fittin' Jeans" topped the charts 1981.
Tony Booth joined Gene Watson's "Farewell Party Band," 1982.
Slim Newman, of "The Georgia Crackers" died 1982.
Michelle Wright debuted on the Grand Ole Opry 1992.
Tim Rushlow married wife Mary Jane 1993.
Beaumont, Texas named a street "George Jones Place" in honor of their favorite son 1995.
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Chubby Wise, fiddler, born Lake City, Fl 1915.
Leon Rausch, western swing vocalist, born Springfield, MO 1927.
Jo-el Sonnier born Rayne, La 1946.
Chris Ledoux born Biloxi, Ms 1948.
Sheila Biddy born Scottsville, KY 1952. Sheila was the first woman in history to run a country music record label (Decca, in 1993.)
Elvis Presley debuted on the Grand Ole Opry 1954. Jim Denny, the Opry manager told Elvis after the show, that he should go back to Memphis and resume his truck-driving career. Jim Denny was fired from the Opry two years later.
Greg Jennings, "Restless Heart," born Nicoma Park, OK 1954.
Earl Scruggs injured in car wreck 1955.
Joy Lynn White, born Turrell, AR 1961.
Tammy Sullivan of "Jerry & Tammy Sullivan" born Wagarville, AL 1964.
Gillian Welch born New York City, 1967.
Bill Anderson married Becky Stegall Davis, 1971.
Kenny Rogers married Marianne Gordon (Hee Haw Cast,) in 1977.
An attempt was made to steal Elvis Presley's body, from its burial place in Memphis 1977. The family had the bodies of Elvis, and Gladys Presley moved to Graceland, where they are buried side by side.
Marty Robbins released "An Occasional Rose/Holding On To You" 1980.
The 1991 CMA Award Show was held in Nashville, Tennessee.
Garth Brooks won four CMA awards, including Entertainer of the Year 1991.
After giving birth to her second child, Beau Grayson Tucker, Tanya Tucker watched the CMA Award Show from her hospital bed in Nashville. That's how she learned that she was the CMA's Female Vocalist of the Year in 1991.
Earl Thompson, age 77, sideman for Hank Sr., and Ernest Tubb died 1993.
Gene Autry, age 91, died Studio City, CA in 1998. Member CMHF 1969 NSHF 1970 Texas
CMHF 1998.
MCA Records released Gary Alan's album "Alright Guy" 2001.
Sony released Bela Fleck's album "Perpetual Motion" 2001.
Tim McGraw's album "Live Like You Were Dying" topped the charts 2004.
Austin City Limits taped the first show of their 30th year on PBS in 2004.
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Fiddlin' Cowan Powers, fiddle champion/recording artist, born Russell County, VA 1877.
Joe Allison, born McKinney, TX 1924. Elected NSHF 1978.
Eddie Cochran, Rockabilly pioneer, born Oklahoma City, OK 1938. Eddie grew up in Albert Lea, MN.
George Jones released "The Window Up Above" 1960.
Woody Guthery, age 55, died in Queens, NY 1967.
Dean Upson of "The Vagabonds" died 1975.
MCA released Jimmy Buffett's "You Had To Be There" 1978.
Marty Haggard, recording artist, son of Merle Haggard, was critically injured in a head-on automobile crash while driving to a performance in Arkansas 1988. Marty was thrown through the windshield, and it was four years before he could perform again.
Dennis McGee, age 96, Cajun fiddler/recording artist, died 1989.
Del Wood, age 69, died in Nashville, TN 1989. Member Grand Ole Opry.
Liberty Records released Garth Brooks' "The Chase" 1992.
Liberty Records released Suzy Bogguss's "Simpatico" 1994.
MCA released Mark Chesnutt's album "Wings" 1995.
Tim McGraw's "Where The Green Grass Grows" topped the charts 1998.
Asylum Records released Chad Austin's album "Chad Austin" in 2000.
John Berry's "My Heart Is Bethlehem" album was released in 2000.
Keith Urban received the Australian Recording Industry's Achievement Award 2001.
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Leroy Van Dyke born Spring Fork, MO 1929.
Lloyd Green, steel guitarist/ session musician, born Mobile, AL 1937.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, lectured from the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, on behalf of the Nashville Girl Scouts, in 1938.
Larry Collins "Collins Kids," born Tulsa, OK 1944.
Greg Hubbard, "Sawyer Brown," born Orlando, FL 1960.
Johnny Cash arrested in El Paso, Texas, bringing drugs across the border 1965.
Capitol Records released "The Best Of Buck Owens, Vol. 4" 1971.
Esther "Violet" Koehler, age 57, "Coon Creek Girls," died 1973.
Tom T. Hall recorded "Subdivision Blues" 1973.
Billy Jean Campbell filed for divorce from Glen Campbell 1975.
Willie Nelson had his first #1 record "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," 1975.
Tammy Wynette reported to police, that she had been kidnapped at a Nashville Mall in 1978. Years later, she admitted that the story was not true.
Alabama appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" 1980.
Capitol Records released Buck Owens' album "Act Naturally" 1989.
Diamond Rio debuted on the Grand Ole Opry 1991.
Danny Gatton, guitar virtuoso, died in Newburg, MD 1994, the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Jerry Rivers, fiddler for Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys, died 1996.
A. L. "Doodle" Owens, songwriter, died 1999. Inducted NSHF 1999.
The 2000 CMA Award Show was presented in Nashville.
Charlie Pride and Faron Young inducted CMHF 2000.
GAC "The Great American Country" Network broadcast their first Grand Ole Opry show, after CMT "Country Music Television" and the Grand Ole Opry, could not come to terms in 2003.
Ernie Lynn, age 50, son of Loretta, injured in a car wreck, near Loretta's Tennessee ranch, in 2003. A passenger in Ernie's car was killed in the accident.
George Hampton, driver of Toby Keith's band bus, was shot while driving the vehicle through Carrollton, Texas in 2004. Hampton was able to stop the vehicle safely, and he was transported to a Dallas hospital. Department of Public Safety investigators believe the shooting was a random drive-by incident. The tour bus had no exterior marking identifying it as Toby's bus.
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On October, 5, 1925, at 7:00 PM, WSM was born, when Edwin Craig spoke the following words
into the microphone; "This is WSM, 'We Shield Millions.' The National Life and Accident
Insurance Company."
Billy Lee Riley, SUN Records/Rockabilly legend, born Pocahontas, AR 1933.
Margie Singleton, born Coushatta, LA 1935.
Johnny Duncan born Dublin, TX 1938.
The Davis Sisters' "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" topped the charts 1953.
Richie Dotson, banjo player for "New Tradition" born Dickson, TN 1966.
Sonny James' "Since I Met You, Baby" went to # 1 in 1969.
Capitol Records released Buck Owens' single "I Wouldn't Live In New York City" 1970.
Georgette Jones born Lakeland, FL 1970. Georgette is the only child born to George Jones & Tammy Wynette.
Tommy Magness, age 54, fiddler for Roy Acuff, and Bill Monroe, died 1971.
John Denver's #1 country hit "Back Home Again" charted 1974.
Ronnie Milsap's "Lost in the Fifties Tonight" topped the charts 1985.
Clint Black performed at Carnegie Hall 1989.
Merle Haggard inducted CMHF 1994.
Bill Monroe received the National Medal of the Arts Award 1995.
Roger Miller inducted CMHF, and Alison Krauss won five CMA awards 1995.
Warner Brothers released Anita Cochran's album "Anita" 1999.
Tracy Byrd's "Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo" topped the charts 2002.
George Strait's album "50 #1 Hits" was released 2004.
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Kendall Hayes, songwriter, "Walk on By," born Perryville, KY 1935.
Al Dexter's "Wine, Women and Song" was #1 in 1946.
Ernest Tubb and Red Foley recorded "Too Old to Tango," 1953.
Marty Robbins' "Devil Woman" topped the charts 1962.
Rex Allen's single "Don't Go Near The Indians" debuted on the charts 1962.
Tim Rushlow, "Little Texas" born Arlington, TX 1966.
Frank "Cicero" Weaver of "The Weaver Brothers & Elviry" died 1967.
Jerry Lee Lewis topped the country charts with "There Must Be More to Love Than This" 1970.
Claude Grant, age 69, of the "Tenneva Ramblers" died 1975.
Moe Bandy's single "I Cheated Me Right Out Of You' charted 1979.
Amos Binkley, age 90, of the Binkley Brothers Dixie Clodhoppers, died 1985.
Janie Frickie's "Always Have, Always Will," was #1 in 1986.
Alan Jackson debuted on the Opry 1990.
Garth Brooks became the 65th member of the Grand Ole Opry 1990.
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were married in Rayville, LA 1996.
Theron Eugene "Ted" Daffen, age 84, songwriter, bandleader, died 1996. Inducted NSHF 1970.
Carolyn Dawn Johnson debuted on the Grand Ole Opry 2001.
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Uncle Dave Macon born Warren County, TN 1870, inducted CMHF 1966.
Vaughn Monroe born Akron, OH 1911.
Hugh Cherry, disc jockey, born Louisville, KY 1922.
Jimmie Rodgers first record released 1927.
Jim Halsey, manager/promoter, born Independence, KS 1930.
Gordon Terry born Decatur, AL 1931.
Buddy Lee, Booking Agent, born Brooklyn, NY 1932.
Bill Monroe recorded his first solo cuts for RCA. Mule Skinner Blues was recorded on this date in 1940.
Tex Williams went to #1 with "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" 1947.
Kieran Kane, "The O'Kanes," born Queens, NY 1949.
"Cattle Call" took Eddy Arnold to #1 in 1955.
Marty Robbins released "The Story Of My Life," 1957.
Dale Watson, singer/songwriter/guitarist, born Birmingham, AL 1963.
Freddie Hart's "Easy Lovin'," topped the charts 1971.
Merle Haggard and Leona Williams married 1978.
"Songwriter," the movie, premiered in Nashville 1984. Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson starred.
Johnny Darrell, age 57, died in Kennesaw, GA from diabetes 1997.
Bill Anderson released his "Greatest Hits, Vol. 2" album in 1997.
Chris LeDoux underwent successful liver transplant surgery in Omaha, NE 2000.
Jimmie Logsdon, age 79, singer/songwriter, died 2001.
Freddy Fender received the International Entertainment Buyers Assoc. "Pioneer Award," 2003.
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C. E. Moody, "The Georgia Yellow Hammers," born Calhoun County, GA 1891.
Pete Drake, producer, musician and publisher, born "Roddis Franklin Drake" in Atlanta, Georgia 1932. Inducted into the International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1987. Elected to the Atlanta Music Hall of Fame 1989. Pete was presented with the Nashville Entertainment Masters Award on 5-7-87.
Susan Raye, recording artist, born Eugene, OR 1944.
Lynn Morris, Bluegrass singer/multi-instrumentalist/band leader, born Lamesa, TX 1948.
Jackie Frantz, "Dave & Sugar," born Sidney, OH 1950.
Russ Barenberg, Bluegrass/Guitar/Mandolin, born 1950.
Ricky Lee Phelps, "Kentucky Headhunters" born Paragould, AR 1953.
Anthony Kenney, "Kentucky Headhunters" born Glasgow, KY 1953.
Iry Lejeune, age 25, Cajun singer/accordionist, killed in a traffic accident on his way home from a gig 1954.
Jerry Lee Lewis' divorce from first wife Dorothy Barton, became final in 1954, twenty-three days after he married his second wife Jane Mitcham.
Sonny James quit the Big D. Jamboree, and joined the Ozark Jubilee 1955.
Harry Stone, age 70, radio executive, former manager of WSM, died 1968.
The 1979 CMA Awards Show was presented in Nashville.
Hubert Long and Hank Snow inducted CMHF 1979.
Willie Nelson named CMA Entertainer of the Year 1979.
Bob Newman, age 63, of "The Georgia Crackers" died 1979.
Barbara Mandrell won the CMA's Female Artist of the Year 1979.
Anne Murray becomes the first female to win the CMA's Album of the Year award 1984.
Floyd Tillman and Ralph Peer inducted CMHF 1984.
Tennessee Ernie Ford inducted CMHF 1990.
Trace Adkins was injured, in 2002, when the tractor he was riding, rolled over, pinning him to the ground. Just a few of the injuries sustained by Trace, prior to joining the Grand Ole Opry in 2003: Nose severed in vehicle accident; left finger cut off in the oil fields, shot through the heart by an ex-wife. There are more, but space is so limited.
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Gobel Reeves "The Texas Drifter," born Sherman, TX 1899.
Dennis "Boots" Woodall, songwriter/guitarist, founder of the "Radio Wranglers," born Paulding County, GA 1921.
The "Renfro Valley Barn Dance," debuted on WLW in Renfro Valley, KY 1937.
Bill Monroe debuted on the Grand Ole Opry 1938.
The Musicians Union strike, which began August 1, 1942, ended in 1943. The Record companies began recording again after one year of silence.
Elvis Presley debuted on the Louisiana Hayride 1954.
Buck Owens recorded "Second Fiddle" at Capitol Studios, Hollywood 1958. This single became Buck's first chart record in the spring of 1959.
Jimmy Dean's #1 hit "Big Bad John" debuted on the charts 1961.
Gary Bennett, "BR5-49," born Las Vegas, NV 1964.
Little Jimmy Dickens' "May the Bird of Paradise Fly up Your Nose," charted 1965.
Chick Hurt, age 56, "The Prarie Ramblers," died 1967.
Elvis Presley and Priscilla were divorced 1973.
The 1978 CMA Awards Show was presented in Nashville.
Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones inducted CMHF 1978.
Dolly Parton named "Entertainer of the Year," at the 1978 CMA Awards.
Hank Thompson, Cliffe Stone, and Jack Stapp, inducted CMHF 1989.
The Highwaymen kicked off their second tour 1990.
Joe Lubin, age 84, songwriter, died 2001.
Smoky Dacus, age 90, "Texas Playboys," died 2001.
Keith Urban's single "Days Go By" topped the charts 2004.
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Don Pierce, record company executive, born Ballard, WA 1915.
John Prine, born Maywood, IL 1946.
Marty Robbins released "I'll Go On Alone/You're Breaking My Heart" 1952.
Tanya Tucker, born Seminole, TX 1958.
Ray Charles' #1 hit "Georgia On My Mind" charted 1960.
The Browns gave their final Opry performance as a group in 1966.
1971 CMA Awards show was held in Nashville.
Charley Pride won CMA Entertainer of the Year 1971.
Merle Travis inducted CMHF 1977.
Marty Robbins released "Please Don't Play A Love Song/Jenny" 1978.
James Cecil "Little Jimmy" Dickens inducted CMHF 1983.
Loretta Lynn, and Roy Rodgers, inducted CMHF 1988.
Hank Williams Jr. named CMA's Entertainer of the Year 1988.
K. T. Oslin became the first woman to receive the CMA Song of the Year award 1988.
Capitol released Glen Campbell's "Essential, Vol. 3" 1995.
Capitol released Tennessee Ernie Ford's album "Sixteen Tons" in 1995, five years after the single was a hit.
Lee Ann Womack's single, "I Hope You Dance," released 2000.
RCA released Sara Evans' album "Born to Fly" 2000.
The Grand Ole Opry celebrated its 78th birthday in 2003.
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Dottie West born "Dorothy Marie Marsh," McMinnville, TN 1932.
Tom Mix died in a car wreck, between Florence and Tucson, AZ 1940.
Gary "Gene" Watson, born Palestine, TX 1943.
Paulette Carlson, "Highway 101" born Northfield, MN 1952.
Jimmy Murphy, singer/songwriter born Republic, AL 1952.
Johnny Cash recorded "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" 1957. Jack Clement produced the session.
Rex Griffin, age 46, songwriter, died in New Orleans 1958. NSHF 1970.
Capitol Records released Buck Owens single "Buckaroo/If You Want A Love" 1965.
The 1976 CMA Awards Show was held in Nashville.
"The Outlaws" was named CMA Album of the Year in 1976. This was the first Country Album to ever sell a million copies.
Kitty Wells and Paul Cohen inducted CMHF 1976.
The 1982 CMA Awards show was held in Nashville.
Lefty Frizzell, Marty Robbins, and Roy Horton, inducted CMHF 1982.
Tex Williams, age 68, died 1985.
T. Tommy Cutrer, age 74, former WSM announcer, died in 1998, from a heart attack. Cutrer was the TV announcer for the Porter Wagoner, and Johnny Cash shows.
Johnny Cash appeared on Larry King Live 2002.
Gary Allan's #1 single "Tough Little Boys" debuted on Billboard's Top 40 Chart 2003.
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Red Foley's "Smoke on the Water" topped the charts 1942.
Lefty Frizzell was the first artist, to place four songs in the Top Ten at the same time 1951.
"Jambalaya" took Hank Williams to #1 on the charts in 1952.
Marty Robbins released "Don't Make Me Ashamed/It's A Long Ride" 1953.
Bob Beckham's single "Just As Much As Ever" debuted on the charts 1959.
Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley P.T.A." took her to #1 and stardom in 1968.
Martie Seidel Maguire " Dixie Chicks," born 1969.
Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee" charted 1969.
Shane McAnally born 1974.
Conway Twitty's "The Games That Daddies Play" topped the charts 1976.
The 1981 CMA Awards were presented in Nashville.
Grant Turner and Vernon Dalhart inducted CMHF 1981.
Barbara Mandrell becomes the first artist to be named the CMA's Entertainer of the Year, two years in a row 1981. Barbara also won the award in 1980.
Terri Gibbs won the first CMA Horizon Award 1981.
Rod Brasfield inducted CMHF 1987.
Capitol released Charlie Daniels' album "Same Ol' Me" 1995.
John Denver, age 53, died when the plane he was flying crashed into the Pacific Ocean, near Monterey, CA 1997. Seven months earlier, the Federal Aviation Administration refused to issue a pilot's license to John, because of alcohol related problems.
Collectables released Johnny Cash's "Original Golden Hits, Vol. 1-2" 1999.
Diamond Rio's "Beautiful Mess" topped the charts 2002.
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Roy Rogers quit the Sons of the Pioneers 1937.
Roy Rogers signed his first Hollywood contract with Columbia Pictures 1938.
Acuff-Rose Publications was founded on this date in 1942. The formal partnership agreement was between Fred Rose, and Roy Acuff's wife Mildred.
Tex Ritter's "You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often" topped the charts 1945.
Lacy J. Dalton born "Jill Lynne Byrem," Bloomsburg, PA 1946.
Lefty Frizzell released "Cigarettes and Coffee Blues," 1958.
Olive "Marie" Osmond, born Ogden, UT 1959.
Leroy Van Dyke's "Just Walk On By" topped the charts 1961.
John Wayne Wiggins of "John & Audrey Wiggins" born Nashville, TN 1962.
Rhett Akins singer/songwriter, born Valdosta, GA 1969.
Johnny Rodriguez' "Ridin' My Thumb To Mexico" topped the charts 1973.
The 1975 CMA Award Show was presented in Nashville. Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty won their fourth straight award for Duo of the Year. Waylon Jennings won for Male Vocalist, and Minnie Pearl, age 63, was inducted into the CMHF.
The 1980 CMA Award Show was presented in Music City. Johnny Cash, Connie B. Gay, and the Original Sons of the Pioneers, inducted CMHF. Emmylou Harris named Female Vocalist of the Year, and George Jones named the Male Vocalist of the Year 1980.
Ricky Skaggs' single "Uncle Pen" went to #1 1984.
Dan Seals & Marie Osmond's duet "Meet Me In Montana" topped the charts 1985.
Deborah Allen released her album "Anthology" 1998.
Horace "Hoss" Logan, the founder of the Louisiana Hayride, died in Victoria, TX 2002.
Tommy Vaden, age 79, fiddler for Hank Snow died 2004.
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Dorsey Murdock Dixon, "Dixon Brothers, born Darlington, SC 1897.
Kenny Roberts, born "George Kingsbury" radio star, in Lenoir City, TN 1926.
Melba Montgomery, born Iron City, TN 1938.
The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company purchased a 30-minute segment of the Grand Ole Opry in 1938. The Prince Albert Show was born, and Roy Acuff was picked to be the host. The NBC radio Red network picked up the show, and broadcast it every Saturday night to twenty-six NBC stations, in addition to WSM. By 1943 the show was featured on the full NBC network, and could be heard coast to coast on 125 stations. Country music was on it's way.
Grandpa Jones married Ramona Riggins 1946.
Hank Snow went to #1 with "I Don't Hurt Anymore" in 1954.
The phrase "Nashville Sound," first appeared in Time magazine 1960.
Del Reeves joined the Grand Ole Opry 1966.
Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, born 1974, in President George Bush's state of Texas.
Johnny Paycheck's single "Take This Job and Shove It" was released 1977. It went to #1 the following month.
David Frizzell married Judy Britting 1982.
Sarah Ogan Gunning, age 73, of the singing Ogan clan, died 1983.
The 1985 CMA Awards show was presented in Nashville. Ricky Skaggs was named Entertainer of the Year, and Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs were inducted into the CMHF.
The Judds won their first, of three straight, CMA Vocal Group of the Year awards 1985.
Eddie Rabbitt & Juice Newton's duet "Both To Each Other (Friends & Lovers)" went to #1 in 1986.
Holly Dunn Joined the Grand Ole Opry 1989.
The last "Nashville Now" TV show was aired on TNN 1993.
The Grand Ole Opry celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2000.
Bryan White and actress Erika Page married in Dallas, TX 2000.
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Texas Jim Lewis, leader of the "Lone Star Cowboys" born Meigs, GA 1909.
Louis Nunley, "Anita Kerr Singers" born Sikeston, MO 1931.
Larrie Londin, drummer, born Norfolk, VA 1943.
David Holt, multi-instrumentalist/TV Host/story teller, born Gatesville, TX 1946.
Bill Monroe recorded "Uncle Pen" 1950. The song was written about Bill's Uncle Pendleton Vandiver.
Hank Williams, and former girl friend Bobbie Jett, signed an agreement indicating that Hank, and his mother Lillie, would be responsible for Bobbie's unborn child on October 15, 1952. The child was named Cathy, and later "Jett Williams." Bobbie Jett died in 1974.
Loretta Lynn debuted as a guest, on the Grand Ole Opry 1960. She was invited back as a guest, for twenty-one consecutive weekends.
Ernie Ashworth's "Talk Back Trembling Lips" topped the charts 1963.
Frank Walker, age 73, entertainment industry executive died 1963.
Dean Miller born 1965.
The 1969 CMA Awards show was presented in Nashville.
Gene Autry inducted CMHF 1969.
The audience, at a Madison Square Garden Rock concert in 1971, booed Rick Nelson. As a result of this incident, Rick wrote "Garden Party."
Johnny Cash hosted the 1973 Country Music Association Awards in Nashville. Chet Atkins and Patsy Cline were inducted into the CMHF. Chet, age 49, was the youngest person ever inducted.
The 1974 CMA Awards show was presented in Nashville.
Pee Wee King and Owen Bradley inducted CMHF 1974.
The Grand Ole Opry celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1975.
Al Stricklin, age 78, piano player for Bob Wills' Texas Playboys, died 1986.
"Cash: The Autobiography" went on sale 1997.
Tim McGraw's movie Friday Night Lights, opened in theaters in 2004.
Grand Ole Opry members Diamond Rio received the Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award, from Steve Wariner during the Opry broadcast 2004.
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Bob Newman, of "The Georgia Crackers" born Cochran, GA 1915.
Dale Troy "Stoney" Cooper, born Harman, WV 1918.
George Morgan joined the Grand Ole Opry 1948.
Bland Simpson, of the "Red Clay Ramblers" born Durham, NC 1948.
Jim Ed Norman, record company executive/producer, born Fort Myers, FL 1948.
Carl Butler debuted on the Grand Ole Opry 1953.
Elvis Presley debuted on the Louisiana Hayride 1954.
Jimmie H. Davis inducted CMHF 1972.
Doyle Wilburn, age 52, of the "Wilburn Brothers" died Nashville, TN 1982.
Don Reno, age 58, of "Reno & Smiley" died Charlottesville, VA 1984.
Naomi Judd announced her retirement in 1990, due to illness.
Johnny Cash performed at Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Celebration in NYC 1992.
RCA released Vince Gill's "Super Hits" album 1996.
John Berry's "All the Way to There" album released in 2001.
Sara Evans single "Suds In The Bucket" topped the charts 2004.
The National Italian American Foundation honored Tim McGraw with their Special Achievement Award in Music 2004. Tim's mother is Italian.
The Ralph Stanley Museum was opened in Clintwood, VA 2004.
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Earl Thomas Conley, singer/songwriter born Portsmouth,
