1937 Merle Haggard is born in Oildale, California. After imprisonment in San Quentin, he becomes a legendary singer/and a member of The Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. Merle Haggard passed away on his birthday one year ago today.
1991 Garth Brooks hits #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Two Of A Kind, Workin’ On A Full House”
1992 Mercury releases Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” It peaked at #4 on the charts but made Billy Ray Cyrus famous and was also the first single to ever hit triple platinum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byQIPdHMpjc
1998 Tammy Wynette dies at home in Nashville. Noted for the classics “Stand By Your Man” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” the First Lady of Country Music is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame five months later
2013 George Jones performs at the Knoxville Coliseum in Tennessee in what turns out to be the last concert of his life. It marks his final public performance of “He Stopped Loving Her Today” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2j0foOQLws
2014 Miranda Lambert wins three trophies during the 49th annual Academy of Country Music Awards: Female Vocalist of the Year; Single Record, for “Mama’s Broken Heart”; and Vocal Event, for the Keith Urban duet “We Were Us.”
