1937
Born on this day in Littlefield, Texas, was Waylon Jennings, singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings, who once worked as a DJ, played bass with Buddy Holly, Jennings unintentionally missing flying with Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens on the flight on which they died. In 1976 he released the album Wanted! The Outlaws with Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser and Jessi Colter, which became the first platinum country music album, and he was also a member of the country supergroup The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. Jennings, who died on 13th February 13, 2002, was also the narrator for the TV show the Dukes of Hazzard.
1937
1954
Born on this day in Miami, Florida, was Terri Gibbs, country music artist who was born blind. Between 1980 and 1990, she recorded seven studio albums, including four for MCA Records and one for Warner Bros. Records. She also charted thirteen singles on the Billboard country singles charts in that timespan, including her debut single “Somebody’s Knockin'”, which reached #8 on the country charts.
1963
Buck Owens scored his first #1 single with “Act Naturally”. The song has been covered by many other artists, including Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yoakam, and The Beatles. In 1989, Owens and Ringo Starr teamed up for a brand-new version, also creating a lighthearted music video for it, with them playing bumbling versions of themselves playing cowboys in a western being filmed.
1966
Born on this day in Fort Worth, Texas, was Michael Britt, guitarist and singer with Lonestar who first charted in late 1995 with the single “Tequila Talkin’,” the first of 27 singles on the country charts. Nine of the band’s singles have reached #1 on this chart. Their biggest hit was 1999’s “Amazed”, a crossover hit that reached #1 on both the country charts and the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first single to do so since Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream” in 1983.
1985
Ricky Skaggs was at #1 on the Country singles chart with “Country Boy” a song written by Tony Colton, Albert Lee, and Ray Smith of the British band Heads Hands & Feet. The song was Ricky Skaggs’ ninth #1 country music hit.
1995
Ty Herndon was arrested for allegedly exposing himself to an under cover policeman. The undercover officer reported that Herndon approached and asked the officer to accompany him to a wooded area of a park where Herndon sat on a log, exposed himself and began masturbating. The incident took place just before he was about to perform before a convention of Texas police chiefs at the Fort Worth Hotel. He was freed on $500 bond.
2000
Tennessee governor Don Sundquist made this day – “Lynn Anderson Day” throughout the state. The Grammy Award winning star has charted 11 #1 Country hits and was the first female country artist to win an American Music Award in 1974
2007
Jason Aldean was at #1 on the Country charts with his second album Relentless. The set produced three chart singles for Aldean on the Hot Country Songs charts. The lead-off single “Johnny Cash” (originally recorded by Tracy Byrd on his 2004 album Greatest Hits) and “Laughed Until We Cried” and the title track.
