1937
Born on this day in Huntland, Tennessee, was Lorene Mann, American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her duets with Justin Tubb and Archie Campbell. Mann was a co-founder of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). She appeared in the movies Music City USA and W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings. Mann died aged 76 on May 24, 2013.
1953
The funeral of Hank Williams took place at the Montgomery Auditorium. An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. His funeral was said to have been far larger than any ever held for any other citizen of Alabama. Williams had died in the back of his Cadillac travelling to a concert in Ohio.
1957
Born on this day near Pikeville, Kentucky, was Patty Loveless, country music singer, songwriter who has charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including five #1’s including the 1988 “Timber, I’m Falling in Love.”
1966
Born on this day in Nashville,Tennessee, was Deana Carter country music artist who broke through in 1996 with the release of debut album Did I Shave My Legs for This?, which has seen sales of over five million in the US.
1969
Dolly Parton became a member of The Grand Ole Opry.
1983
Alabama were at #1 on the US Country music album chart with Mountain Music, released in 1982, it is the award-winning third studio album by the country music group.
2006
The house where Johnny Cash lived for 35 years was bought by Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb. The rustic house near Nashville, Tennessee went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9m (1.7m). Gibb said he planned to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory. Unfortunately Gibb’s ownership of the house was short-lived. In April 2007, the house burned to the ground. Gibb was having the house renovated when a flammable spray sealer caused fire to break out during construction.
2014
Country music mogul Ronnie Gant died at the age of 69. He signed singers like Patty Loveless and Skip Ewing, and songwriting duo Mike Geiger and Woody Mullis, while he famously brought the tune “Elvira” to The Oak Ridge Boys, earning them a massive hit and a Grammy Award in 1981.
