Gold Country NEWS

1925
Born on this day in Los Angeles, California, was Johnny Horton, most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s. With them, he had several major successes, most notably during 1959 with the song "The Battle of New Orleans" (written by Jimmy Driftwood) which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. Horton was killed in a car crash near Milano, Texas involving a truck on November 5, 1960.

1956
Born on this day in Washington, D.C., was Terry Gregory, country music singer-songwriter. Gregory's debut album, Just Like Me, was released in 1981 by Handshake Records. Its first single, the title track, reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

1971
Born on this day in Grande Prairie, Alberta, was Carolyn Dawn Johnson, country music singer-songwriter. Johnson co-wrote Chely Wright's 1999 single, "Single White Female," which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

1975
The Vietnam War ends with the fall of Saigon. Many returning veterans suffer ill effects, which is the subject of the song "Still in Saigon" by The Charlie Daniels Band.

1977
Glen Campbell went to #1 on the US singles chart with "Southern Nights", (a song written by Allen Toussaint), and Campbell's second US chart topper.

1981
Winners at the 16th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards hosted by Larry Gatlin, Tammy Wynette and Con Meredith at the Shrine Auditorium, Hollywood included: Top Female Vocalist of the Year - Dolly Parton, Top Male Vocalist of the Year - George Jones, Top Vocal Group - Alabama, Top New Female Vocalist of the Year - Terri Gibbs and Top New Male Vocalist of the Year went to Johnny Lee.

1990
Capitol Nashville released "The Dance" by Garth Brooks. The song, written by Brooks' friend, Tony Arata, was a key track on his self-titled debut album Garth Brooks and became #1 chart hit. It is considered by many to be Brooks' signature song. "The Dance" won both Song of the Year and Video of the Year by the Academy of Country Music.

2005
Billboard magazine renamed the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart "Hot Country Songs." The chart's renaming was part of a major redesign of the 110-year-old magazine.

2015
Canadian music video and film director Steven Goldmann died age 53. His innovative direction of Faith Hill’s This Kiss took top prize with the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music. Goldmann also directed the feature film Broken Bridges, starring Toby Keith.

2018
USA Network announced Real Country a reality competition show designed to find the next big country star which would feature Travis Tritt, Jake Owen and Shania Twain as judges.

2022
"Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" by Elle King and Miranda Lambert reaches #1 on the Country Airplay chart, becoming the first female duet to reach the top spot in almost thirty years, following "Does He Love You" by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis in November 1993.

2022
Garth Brooks performed a concert to more than 102,000 fans at Louisiana State University's Tiger Stadium; movement in the venue registered as a small earthquake when he sang "Callin' Baton Rouge", the unofficial anthem of LSU.

2022
US country music star Naomi Judd died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her home in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee; she was 76 years old. The Kentucky-born singer was part of the Grammy award-winning duo The Judds, performing with her daughter Wynonna. The Judds released six studio albums during a career spanning three decades.