This Day in Country Music: December 29
Here’s what happened in country music history >>>
1939 - Born on this day, was William Edwin “Ed” Bruce, Jr. country music songwriter and singer known for penning the 1975 song “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”
1970 - Lynn Anderson was at #1 on the US Country charts with “Rose Garden”. Written by Joe South, the song was also a major pop hit internationally, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway and hitting the top three in the United Kingdom. Anderson’s version of “Rose Garden” remains one of the most successful country crossover recordings of all-time
1972 - Jeanne Pruett records “Satin Sheets”
1983 - Born on this day in Huntingdon, Tennessee, was Jessica Andrews, country music singer. At the age of 15 in mid-1999, she made her debut on the Billboard Hot Country charts with the single “I Will Be There for You”, from her debut album Heart Shaped World, released in 1999.....George Jones receives the first platinum album of his career, for “I Am What I Am”
1991 - Garth Brooks was at #1 on the US country chart with his third studio album, Ropin’ the Wind. The album replaced his previous album No Fences at the #1 position, where it enjoyed a combined 18 weeks at the top of the charts
1998 - Lorrie Morgan, Steve Winwood and Michael English perform at halftime during the first Music City Bowl at Dudley Field in Nashville, while guitarist Larry Carlton is booed for a jazz version of the national anthem. Virginia Tech defeats Alabama, 38-7
2000 - John Michael Montgomery suffers a compound fracture above the ankle when he slips on ice while hunting near his Kentucky home. He has a cast applied during surgery at Lexington’s Central Baptist Hospital and uses it for the next eight months
2001 - Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” spends the first of five weeks at #1 in Billboard
2002 - Chris Cagle sang the national anthem at Houston’s Reliant Stadium as the Tennessee Titans beat the Texans
2009 - Lady Antebellum were at #1 on the US Country chart with “Need You Now”. It won four Grammy Awards in 2011, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year, the first country song to win both honors since 2007, and only the second ever
2010 - Alan Jackson surprises Zac Brown at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena with a 1966 Cadillac El Dorado convertible. The automobile is a gift of thanks for including Jackson on “As She’s Walking Away”
2013 - Nashville’s morning newspaper, The Tennessean, names Taylor Swift the Tennessean of the Year