See also: 2006 in country music, 2007 in music, other events of 2007, 2008 in country music and the List of years in Country Music
Events
- Both Underwood and the Dixie Chicks were winners in country-specific categories. The Dixie Chicks won for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (for "Not Ready to Make Nice") and Best Country Album ("Taking the Long Way"). Underwood won for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Jesus, Take the Wheel"; the song also earned a Best Country Song award for songwriters Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson.
- Also, country music pioneer Bob Wills - the longtime leader of the Texas Playboys - was a posthumous recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Wills was recognized 32 years after his death.
- Week of February 12 — Country music stars team with celebrities during a special celebrity week of Wheel of Fortune, which was taped in Charleston, South Carolina. During the game aired February 13, Julie Roberts and contestant partner Peter Buccellato won $124,250 after Buccallato solved the bonus round puzzle for the show's grand prize of $100,000. Roberts donated a matching amount to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
- February 17 - Hank Williams, Jr. filed for divorce from his fourth wife, Mary Jane, whom he married in 1990.
- March 19 – Days after an announcement that Lonestar had parted ways with longtime record label BNA Records, lead singer Richie McDonald announces plans to depart the group at the end of the year, in search of a solo career. [3]
- April 10 – The house where the music video for Johnny Cash's "Hurt" was shot is destroyed by fire. [1]
- May 10 - Country music superstar Trisha Yearwood announces she is leaving MCA Records where she had been for 16 years with over 12 million albums sold and 5 number 1 singles. She announced she was signing with Big Machine Records. Yearwood and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta met in her intern days at MTM records. Trisha's last top 5 with MCA was "I Would've Loved You Anyway" in 2001.
- September 4 – Sammy Kershaw enters the Louisiana lieutenant governor's race, running as a Republican.[2]
- September 15 – Garth Brooks' song, "More Than a Memory" becomes the first song to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Songs chart, since the start of the magazine's all-encompassing country chart in 1958.
- October 21 - Country music legend Porter Wagoner's publicist Darlene Bieber confirms that Wagoner had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Wagoner dies seven days later.
- October 30 - The Eagles release their studio album Long Road Out of Eden, their first compilation of all-new material in 28 years. The album sells over a million copies in its first two weeks.
Top hits of the year
Number one hits
(As certified by Billboard magazine)
| Date |
Song Name |
Artist |
Wks. No. 1 |
Spec.
Note |
| January 6 |
She's Everything |
Brad Paisley |
3 |
|
| January 27 |
Watching You |
Rodney Atkins |
4 |
1 |
| February 24 |
It Just Comes Natural |
George Strait |
2 |
|
| March 10 |
Ladies Love Country Boys |
Trace Adkins |
2 |
|
| March 24 |
Beer in Mexico |
Kenny Chesney |
3 |
|
| April 14 |
Last Dollar (Fly Away) |
Tim McGraw |
1 |
|
| April 21 |
Wasted |
Carrie Underwood |
3 |
|
| May 12 |
Stand |
Rascal Flatts |
1 |
|
| May 19 |
Settlin' |
Sugarland |
1 |
|
| May 26 |
Good Directions |
Billy Currington |
3 |
|
| June 16 |
Moments |
Emerson Drive |
1 |
A
- With this song, Emerson Drive became the first Canadian-based group to reach the top of the U.S. Billboard country charts, as well as the fifth Canadian-based recording act overall to do so.
|
| June 23 |
Find out Who Your Friends Are |
Tracy Lawrence |
1 |
- Lawrence's first Billboard Number One since "Time Marches On" in June 1996.
- Reached #1 in its forty-first chart week, setting a new record for the slowest climb to #1 on the country charts.
- The song's chart success was greatly aided by stations playing an alternate version featuring Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney.
|
| June 30 |
Ticks |
Brad Paisley |
1 |
|
| July 7 |
Lucky Man |
Montgomery Gentry |
2 |
|
| July 21 |
Lost in This Moment |
Big & Rich |
2 |
A |
| August 4 |
Never Wanted Nothing More |
Kenny Chesney |
5 |
|
| September 8 |
These Are My People |
Rodney Atkins |
1 |
|
| September 15 |
More Than a Memory |
Garth Brooks |
1 |
- Became the first song in the history of the Billboard country charts to debut at #1.
- Brooks' first Billboard #1 since "To Make You Feel My Love" in August 1998.
|
| September 22 |
Take Me There |
Rascal Flatts |
3 |
- Co-written by Kenny Chesney.
|
| October 13 |
Online |
Brad Paisley |
1 |
|
| October 20 |
Love Me If You Can |
Toby Keith |
1 |
- First Billboard Number One for Keith's label, Show Dog Nashville.
|
| October 27 |
Don't Blink |
Kenny Chesney |
4 |
- This song debuted at #16 on the chart week of September 8, setting a record for the highest debut on the Billboard country charts. This record was beaten only one week later by "More Than a Memory" (see above), which debuted at #1.
|
| November 24 |
Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go) |
Dierks Bentley |
1 |
|
| December 1 |
So Small |
Carrie Underwood |
3 |
- Debuted at #20, setting a new record for the highest country chart debut ever made by a female artist.
- Fell from #1 to #10, tying a record for the third-biggest fall from #1 since the inception of Nielsen SoundScan in 1990, and the biggest since Shania Twain's "You Win My Love", which fell to #11 in mid-1996.
|
| December 22 |
Our Song |
Taylor Swift |
6 |
A
- With this song, Swift became the youngest country artist to reach #1 with a self-written song.
- Having moved up from #6 to #1, this song also made the biggest jump to Number One since January 1998, when Tim McGraw's "Just to See You Smile" also jumped from #6 to #1.
|
- A - First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
- 1 - No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard magazine.
Other major hits
United States
Top new album releases
Other top albums
Deaths
- January 1 – Del Reeves, 74, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty-type songs (e.g., "Girl on the Billboard"). (emphysema)
- January 6 – Sneaky Pete Kleinow, 72, pedal steel guitarist for the Flying Burrito Brothers. (complications from Alzheimer's disease)
- January 13 – Doyle Holly, 70, member of Buck Owens' Buckaroos; he also had a string of minor hits in the early- to mid-1970s. (prostate cancer)
- February 2 – Terry McMillan, 53, veteran Nashville session harmonica player and percussionist. (natural causes)
- March 24 – Henson Cargill, 66, country performer best known for 1968 smash "Skip A Rope." (surgical complications)
- April 17 – Glenn Sutton, 69, songwriter and producer best known for the hit "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden"; a chief architect of the countrypolitan sound of the late 1960s/early 1970s. (heart attack)
- July 3 – Boots Randolph, 80, member of Nashville's famed "A-Team" of musicians; he was the saxophonist (subdural hematoma) [4]
- September 25 – Patrick Bourque, 29, bass guitarist for Emerson Drive. (suicide)
- October 28 – Porter Wagoner, 80, rhinestone-suited country music icon, television program host of the 1960s and 1970s, duet partner of Dolly Parton. (lung cancer)[3]
- November 6 – Hank Thompson, 82, Western-swing styled artist best known for "The Wild Side of Life," 1960's "A Six Pack to Go," and others. (lung cancer)[4]
- November 29 – Jim Nesbitt, 75, best known for the hits "Please Mr. Kennedy," "A Tiger in My Tank" and "Runnin' Bare." (Extended battle with a heart condition)
- November 30 – Ralph Ezell, 54, bass guitarist for Shenandoah. (heart attack)
- December 16 – Dan Fogelberg, 56, Many pop hits with a few minor country hits, including "Same Old Lang Syne" (Prostate Cancer)
Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees
- Ralph Emery (born 1933), disc jockey and television host from the 1960s onward.
- Vince Gill (born 1957), singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence in the 1980s.
- Mel Tillis (born 1932), singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1950s.
Major Awards
United States
Grammy awards
(Presented February 11 in Los Angeles) [5]
- Best Female Country Vocal Performance -- "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Carrie Underwood
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance -- "The Reason Why," Vince Gill
- Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal -- "Not Ready to Make Nice," Dixie Chicks
- Best Country Collaboration with Vocals -- "Who Says You Can't Go Home," Bon Jovi with Jennifer Nettles
- Best Country Instrumental Performance -- "Whiskey Before Breakfast," Bryan Sutton and Doc Watson
- Best Country Song -- "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson
- Best Country Album -- Taking the Long Way, Dixie Chicks
- Best Bluegrass Album -- Instrumentals, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
CMT Music Awards
(Presented April 16 in Nashville) [6]
Academy of Country Music
(Presented May 15 in Las Vegas) [7]
Country Music Association
(Presented November 7 in Nashville)
Canada
Canadian Country Music Association
(Presented September 10 in Regina)
Further reading
- Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
- Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
- Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.
References
Other links
External links
|
