1961
Born on this day was American country and adult contemporary artist Ray Vega, who performed with his brother, Robert, as The Vega Brothers.
1984
With his #1 hit “Angel in Disguise,” Earl Thomas Conley became the first artist in any genre to have four chart-topping songs from the same album. The album in question is Don’t Make it Easy For Me, and in addition to “Angel in Disguise” and the title track, Conley also hit with 1983’s “Your Love’s on the Line” and “Holding Her and Loving You.” The feat was part of Conley’s impressive 1980s streak, where he enjoyed 16 #1’s hits through 1989.
1989
Alabama released “High Cotton” the third single from the album Southern Star which went to #1 on the Country charts. It became the groups twenty-sixth #1 Country hit.
1998
Monument Records released “Wide Open Spaces” by Dixie Chicks. The title song on the band’s 1998 album it hit #1 on the US Country singles chart, spending four weeks there in November 1998.
1999
American singer Anita Carter died aged 66. Carter played upright bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters. The trio joined the Grand Ole Opry radio show in 1950 and opened shows for Elvis Presley, and joined The Johnny Cash Show in 1971. She scored two Top Ten hits in 1951 with “Down The Trail of Achin’ Hearts” with Hank Snow and “Blue Bird Island” and she reached the Top Ten again in 1968 with “I Got You” with Waylon Jennings.
2007
During a Faith Hill and Tim McGraw show in Lafayette, Louisiana, at the end of Tim McGraw’s set, a female fan reached out and grabbed McGraw’s nether regions. When Hill and McGraw returned for the encore, Hill blasted the fan, waving her finger and saying into the microphone: “Somebody needs to teach you some class, my friend. You don’t go grabbin’ somebody else’s, somebody’s husband’s [privates], you understand me? That’s very disrespectful!” The incident attracted considerable media attention.
2008
Blake Shelton was at #1 on the US Country charts with “Home”. His cover version of the song first recorded by Canadian singer Michael Bubl�, became the fourth #1 hit of his career.
2014
Toby Keith topped Forbes magazine’s list of country music’s top-paid artists for 2014 with estimated earnings of $65 million. Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan also landed in the Top 5 of the “Country Cash Kings” list, but Keith eclipsed them all thanks to his numerous endeavors which include a restaurant chain, his own Wild Shot mescal, and a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Ford.
2016
“Setting the World on Fire” gave Kenny Chesney his 23rd US #1 Country hit single. The duet with American singer Pink was the second single from Chesney’s 2016 album Cosmic Hallelujah.
