Today In Country Music History
Today in Country Music History is one of the most popular features on the programme and we’ve been delivering back into the history books and give you not only a day but a week of country music trivia. On this page, you can discover important events from country music history for each day of the year. Be sure to check back regularly to update your country trivia!
Each week on the show we feature the biggest events of that week in years gone by, so tune in live or catch up right here on our website to find out more about the history of country music and the biggest events that shaped the music you love!
Monday 25th September 2023
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Kacey Musgraves tops the Billboard country albums chart with "star-crossed"
Luke Bryan and Jon Langston conclude a four-week stint doing the midday shift at KKGO radio in Los Angeles
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has the final two songs in the PBS series "Country Music: A Film By Ken Burns." Episode eight closes with their version of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and a collaboration with Maybelle Carter on "Wildwood Flower"
"Talk You Out Of It" songwriter Jameson Rodgers makes his Grand Ole Opry debut
Vin Scully calls his final baseball game at Dodger Stadium, ending a 67-year broadcasting career. After Los Angeles defeats the Colorado Rockies, 4-3, in extra innings to clinch the division title, fans are lauded with a recording of Scully singing "The Wind Beneath My Wings"
Miranda Lambert is on hand as the inaugural Pilgrimage Music Festival includes an afternoon set by Anderson East in Franklin, Tennessee
Grand Ole Opry member Jean Shepard dies in Nashville. A 2011 inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame, she used a honky-tonk sound to become a pioneer among female country acts, best known for the singles "Slippin' Away," "Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar)" and a Ferlin Husky duet, "A Dear John Letter"
"Independence Day" songwriter Gretchen Peters performs at The Exit/In in Nashville, one of numerous installments of the Concert Across America to End Gun Violence
Keith Urban's "Somewhere In My Car" video debuts
Arista releases Jerrod Niemann's "Drink To That All Night" to radio
Contestant Charlie Rey ends up on Blake Shelton's team on NBC's "The Voice" after auditioning with Shelton's hit "Home"
Dierks Bentley begins four days of training as he picks up his new Cirrus four-seat airplane in Duluth, Minnesota
Skaggs Family releases Ricky Skaggs & The Whites' bluegrass gospel album, "Salt Of The Earth"
Bass player Patrick Bourque dies at his home in Montreal, Quebec, just two days before his 30th birthday. Bourque had left Emerson Drive the previous month, following a five-year stint in which the band notched a #1 hit with "Moments"
Justice releases "Audiobiography," the debut album by Willie Nelson's piano-playing sister, Bobbie Nelson
Vanguard releases "Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino," featuring Willie Nelson's version of "I Hear You Knockin'." Also on board: Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Allen Toussaint, Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, B.B. King and Lucinda Williams
George Strait records "Carried Away" at Nashville's Emerald Sound
Andrew Jannakos is born in Flowery Branch, Georgia. Introduced nationally on NBC's "The Voice" in 2019, he earns a 2020 country hit with "Gone Too Soon" after launching it on TikTok. It leads to a recording contract with Sony
Tracy Byrd's "Holdin' Heaven" rises to #1 on the Billboard country singles chart
Songwriter/guitarist J.R. Cobb enters the Georgia Music Hall of Fame during an event at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. A former member of The Classics IV, he also authored Wynonna's "Rock Bottom," which becomes a country hit months later
Debby Boone guests on the TV special "The Magic of David Copperfield III: Levitating Ferrari," with Cindy Williams and Jack Klugman
Willie Nelson goes to #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with a remake of Lefty Frizzell's "If You've Got The Money I've Got The Time"
Merle Haggard performs "Movin' On" and "The Roots Of My Raising" on "Pop! Goes The Country," and joins former Texas Playboys Eldon Shamblin, Tiny Moore and Johnny Gimble on "Cherokee Maiden." Hosted by Ralph Emery, the episode also boasts Leona Williams and Ronnie Reno
Billie Jo Spears sings "Blanket On The Ground" and "What I've Got In Mind" on an episode of "Hee Haw" that also features George Gobel, Grandpa Jones and co-host Roy Clark, who performs "Easy As Pie"
This ‘Today in Country Music History’ feature is presented with thanks to Roland Note.
