1953
Born on this day in Jackson, Mississippi, was Fred Knoblock, singer, songwriter. Prior to his solo career, Knoblock had been a member of Let’s Eat, a 1970s rock band. He later wrote George Strait’s “Meanwhile” and Lorrie Morgan’s “Back In Your Arms Again.”
1969
Winners at the Academy of Country Music Awards hosted by Dick Clark at The Palladium, Hollywood included: Man of the Year – Tom Smothers, Top Female Vocalist of the Year – Cathie Taylor, Top Male Vocalist of the Year – Glen Campbell, Top Vocal Group – Johnny Mosby and Jonie Mosby, Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year – Cheryl Poole and Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year went to Ray Sanders.
1973
Charlie Rich scored his first #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Behind Closed Doors”, which spent 20 weeks on this chart, and also became a crossover hit on the pop charts. The song earned awards for Song of the Year (for writer Kenny O’Dell) and Single of the Year (for Rich) from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and Rich also received a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. In 2003, it ranked #9 in CMT’s 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.
1987
Waylon Jennings was at #1 on the Country charts with “Rose in Paradise”, Jennings’ twelfth #1 single. Chris Young has a remake of the song as a duet with Willie Nelson on the album The Man I Want to Be.
1991
“Rockin’ Years” by Dolly Parton and Ricky Van Shelton was at #1 on the Country chart, giving Parton her twenty-third #1 Country chart-topper. Parton had first recorded a version of the song with George Jones in 1988.
2000
Columbus, Ohio act Rascal Flatts made their Grand Ole Opry debut.
2008
George Strait was at #1 on the country chart wiith Troubadour, his 25th studio album. The lead-off single, “I Saw God Today”, was the highest-debuting single of Strait’s career, and his forty-third #1 on the Billboard country charts. The album earned the Grammy Award for Best Country Album, the first Grammy win of Strait’s career.
