Monday
- 2011 Taylor Swift performs “Mine,” “Fifteen” and “Love Story” during an intimate concert at London’s Abbey Road Studio for an audience that includes Amy Winehouse
- 2009 A new episode of “CMT Crossroads” debuts pairing Jamey Johnson and Shooter Jennings. Among their performances: “In Color” and a cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out Of Hand”
- 1998 Naomi, Wynonna and Ashley Judd attend the Oscars in Los Angeles, where Trisha Yearwood performs “How Do I Live,” from the movie “Con Air.” Ashley presents an award and gets flak for a high, revealing hemline
- 1996 This has to make her feel better: Patty Loveless tops the Billboard country chart with “You Can Feel Bad”
- 1993 Bruce Springsteen surprises the audience at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, when he rips off his shirt and launches into Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart.” “Everybody gets a giggle out of it,” he says, “but that tune is just damn good”
- 1993 Reprise releases Dwight Yoakam’s album “This Time”
- 1986 Brett Eldredge is born in Paris, Illinois. He brings a blue-eyed soul sound to country with his 2013 debut album, “Bring You Back,” which garners #1 hits with “Don’t Ya,” “Beat Of The Music” and “Mean To Me”
- 1985 Ray Charles and fellow chess player Willie Nelson appear at #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Seven Spanish Angels”
Tuesday
- 2013 Trace Adkins jokingly gives team member Stephen Baldwin the finger during an episode of “The Celebrity Apprentice” on NBC. They win an assignment to promote a haircare product, guaranteeing they’ll be back the next week
- 2007 “Live from New York…” Carrie Underwood is the musical guest on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” performing “Before He Cheats” and “Wasted.” The installment is hosted by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning
- 2005 Keith Urban’s “Making Memories Of Us” video has its television premiere on CMT
- 2004 Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts pick up four nominations apiece in the third annual CMT Flame Worthy Video Music Awards
- 2002 Faith Hill performs “There You’ll Be,” from the movie “Pearl Harbor,” during the Oscar awards at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre. “For The Birds” wins Best Animated Short; the movie features a score created by Riders In The Sky
- 1984 “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)” drives Alabama to the top position on the Billboard country singles chart
- 1984 Toby Keith marries Tricia Lucus
- 1979 Anne Murray registers a #1 country single in Billboard with “I Just Fall In Love Again”
- 1977 Songwriter Natalie Hemby is born. Married to producer Mike Wrucke, she pens Lady Antebellum’s “Downtown”; Little Big Town’s “Pontoon” and “Tornado”; and the Miranda Lambert hits “White Liar” and “Baggage Claim”
- 1958 Elvis Presley is sworn into the U.S. Army in Memphis, Tennessee
Wednesday
- 2014 Surprise guest Luke Bryan joins Charlie Daniels for “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” during Daniels’ annual fundraiser for veterans’ scholarships at Nashville’s David Lipscomb University. Also appearing: Clint Black, Kellie Pickler, The Grascals and unannounced walk-on Lee Greenwood, who does “God Bless The U.S.A.”
- 2013 Season four of “The Voice” debuts on NBC with Blake Shelton adding the eventual winner, Danielle Bradbery, to his team after her performance of “Mean.” Contestants also cover “Blown Away” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” Shelton sings “Come Together” with fellow judges Adam Levine, Usher and Shakira
- 1989 Reba McEntire takes the top spot on the Billboard country chart with “New Fool At An Old Game”
- 1987 Warner Bros. releases Randy Travis’ “Forever And Ever, Amen”
- 1981 Fifteen days after he earned his first gold single, Eddie Rabbitt picks up a second, for “Drivin’ My Life Away”
- 1974 Charlie Rich wins three times during the ninth annual Academy Of Country Music awards at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Rich swipes Top Male Vocalist, Single Record and Album of the Year for “Behind Closed Doors,” also named Song of the Year
- 1971 Lynn Anderson earns the only gold album of her career, with “Rose Garden”
- 1966 Buck Owens records a live album at New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall, kicking off the concert with “Act Naturally.” Opening the show: Dick Curless
- 1963 Johnny Cash records “Ring Of Fire” at the Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville
Thursday
- 2014 Lady Antebellum and songwriter Rodney Clawson pen “Bartender” on a bus ride from Kansas City to Omaha
- 2013 Warner Bros. releases Blake Shelton’s album “Based On A True Story…”
- 2012 Mercury releases Lionel Richie’s “Tuskegee” album, featuring such guests as Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, Jennifer Nettles, Jimmy Buffett, Shania Twain, Billy Currington, Tim McGraw and Willie Nelson
- 2005 Craig Morgan begins a four-week visit at the top of the Billboard chart with “That’s What I Love About Sunday”
- 1990 “Diamonds & Dirt” becomes Rodney Crowell’s first gold album
- 1983 John Anderson goes to #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Swingin'”
- 1968 Kenny Chesney is born in Knoxville, Tennessee. After a 1993 launch, he becomes one of the biggest hitmakers of the early-21st century, regularly winning Entertainer of the Year trophies and selling out stadiums in his annual summer concert treks
- 1956 Charly McClain is born in Jackson, Tennessee. Her distinctive southern voice marks such 1980s releases as “Who’s Cheatin’ Who,” “Radio Heart” and a duet with Mickey Gilley, “Paradise Tonight”
- 1955 Songwriter Dean Dillon is born in Lake City, Tennessee. He writeis the George Strait hits “Ocean Front Property,” “The Chair” and “Unwound,” plus “Miami My Amy,” by Keith Whitley; “Set ‘Em Up Joe,” by Vern Gosdin; and “By Now,” by Steve Wariner
- 1950 Ronnie McDowell is born in Fountain Head, Tennessee. Following his 1977 tribute to Elvis Presley, “The King Is Gone,” he reaps more than a dozen Top 10 hits through 1987, including “Older Women” and “You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation”
Friday
- 2013 The Miranda Lambert single “Mama’s Broken Heart” is certified gold
- 2008 Trace Adkins sings “You’re Gonna Miss This” during the season finale of the NBC series “The Celebrity Apprentice,” won by his opponent, Piers Morgan. Making cameo appearances are Eddie Montgomery, Dean Sams and Ronnie Milsap
- 2007 Curb releases Tim McGraw’s “Let It Go” album
- 2002 Lyle Lovett’s leg is broken in 20 places when he’s trampled by a bull while working on his uncle’s Texas ranch. Lovett, injured while trying to protect his uncle, who was flipped by the bull, undergoes surgery at Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital
- 2002 Shania Twain’s “Come On Over” album is certified for shipments of 19 million units
- 1999 Kenny Chesney starts a six-week stay at the top of the Billboard country chart with “How Forever Feels”
- 1998 Gene Autry, who sold the California Angels baseball team to Disney, is honored with a bronze statue as Anaheim Stadium is reopened after a major facelift
- 1996 Trace Adkins’ debut video, “There’s A Girl In Texas,” has its world premiere on CMT
- 1985 RCA releases Restless Heart’s self-titled debut album
- 1971 Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn share the top spot in Billboard with “After The Fire Is Gone”
- 1965 Roger Miller’s “King Of The Road” occupies the #1 position on the Billboard country singles chart
Saturday
- 2013 Blake Shelton sings The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” dressed like a chicken with three cast members from NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” Shelton also performs “Sure Be Cool If You Did”
- 2012 Banjo player Earl Scruggs dies in Nashville. A bluegrass pillar, he helped establish the genre as a Bill Monroe sideman, a member of Flatt & Scruggs and a solo artist, earning a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame
- 2009 Love And Theft performs “Runaway” in its Grand Ole Opry debut
- 2003 CMT places Johnny Cash at #1 when it lists “The 40 Greatest Men Of Country Music.” Rounding out the Top Five: Hank Williams, #2; George Jones, #3; Willie Nelson, #4; and Waylon Jennings, #5
- 2001 The “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack goes platinum. Produced by T Bone Burnett, it features Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, The Soggy Bottom Boys, Alison Krauss, Harry McClintock, Gillian Welch, John Hartford and The Cox Family
- 1992 Reba McEntire goes to the head of the class in Billboard, reaching #1 with “Is There Life Out There”
- 1981 Hank Williams Jr.’s “Texas Women” hits #1 on the Billboard country chart
- 1969 Rodney Atkins is born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He hits his stride with the 2006 album “If You’re Going Through Hell,” which notches four hits, including the title track and “Watching You.” His later successes include “It’s America” and “Take A Back Road”
- 1955 Reba McEntire is born in McAlester, Oklahoma. The winner of multiple Entertainer of the Year awards, she becomes a country icon while expanding into movies, Broadway and even a TV sitcom, entering the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011
Sunday
- 2013 Taylor Swift picks up a platinum single for “Begin Again”
- 2004 Dierks Bentley undergoes knee surgery in Nashville, nine days after an on-stage accident left him with a torn ligament and bruised knee bone
- 2003 Joe Nichols picks up his first #1 single in Billboard with “Brokenheartsville”
- 2002 The movie “Panic Room,” starring Jodie Foster, opens in American theaters. Dwight Yoakam portrays one of three villains who hold a family hostage in the attempted burglary of $3 million
- 1999 Thirteen years after its release, Steve Earle’s “Guitar Town” album is certified gold
- 1998 Martina McBride has her second daughter, Emma Justine McBride
- 1997 Reba McEntire’s “How Was I To Know” reaches #1 on the Billboard country chart
- 1980 Conway Twitty nets a #1 country single in Billboard with “I’d Love To Lay You Down”
- 1969 Keyboard player Brady Seals is born in Hamilton, Ohio. As a member of Little Texas, he contributes to such hits as “What Might Have Been,” “God Blessed Texas” and “Kick A Little” before leaving in 1994 for a solo career
