This Day in Country Music History, January 3
2017
Happy holidays from Snoop Dogg! Willie Nelson posts a photo of Facebook of an ugly Christmas sweater he received from the wrapper bearing a unique yuletide message: “Smoke Weed Everyday”
2014
EMI releases Eric Church’s “Give Me Back My Hometown” to radio
2012
Broken Bow releases Dustin Lynch’s debut single, “Cowboys And Angels,” to radio
2001
Toby Keith sings the national anthem before the game and Lee Ann Womack performs “I Hope You Dance” during halftime at the Orange Bowl in Miami. The Oklahoma Sooners beat the Florida State Seminoles, 13-2
2000
The album “LeAnn Rimes” is certified platinum, becoming the first release to receive a sales award in the new millennium
1999
Lee Ann Womack and record producer Frank Liddell have a daughter, Anna Lise Liddell, in Nashville
1991
Billy Ray Cyrus signs his first recording contract with Mercury Records in Ashland, Kentucky. In conjunction with the event, the mayors of Ashland and Flatwoods, Kentucky, each proclaim Billy Ray Cyrus Day
1986
Willie Nelson and Alabama are out front among country acts as finalists are announced in the American Music Awards, collecting four nominations each. Lee Greenwood and Hank Williams Jr. get tabbed three times each
1950
Sam Phillips opens the Sun Recording Studio, originally known as the Memphis Recording Service, at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis. It becomes a site for sessions by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, among others
1917
Leon McAuliffe is born in Houston. He plays steel guitar for Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys from 1935-1942, then earns an instrumental hit on his own in 1949 with “Panhandle Rag.” His Wills credits include “Right Or Wrong” and “Cherokee Maiden”
