Country GOLD NEWS
The Mother Road Route 66 is Celebrating 100 Years Old, Chicago to LA
1941
Born on this day was American rock and country singer, songwriter, and musician Mac Gayden. As a session guitarist, Gayden also recorded with Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Presley, and many others. Gayden died due to Parkinson's disease on 16 April 2025, at the age of 83.
1945
Born on this day, was Don Reid, Country singer, songwriter with The Statler Brothers who had the 80's US Country #1 hits "Elizabeth" and "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine".
1948
Born on this day in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, was Gail Davies singer/songwriter and the first female record producer in the history of country music. She is also the daughter of country singer Tex Dickerson and the younger sister of songwriter Ron Davies. During the 1970s and 1980s she scored numerous Top 10 and Top 20 Billboard hits becoming one of country music's most influential artists.
1968
Born on this day in Columbia, Missouri, was Brett James, singer, songwriter and record producer. As a solo artist in 1995, James charted three singles and released a self-titled debut album that year. Since the early 2000s, James has become known primarily as a songwriter for other country and pop music artists. Among his compositions is Carrie Underwood's 2006 #1 hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel," which received Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. James was killed in the crash of his Cirrus SR22T airplane on the afternoon of September 18, 2025, near Franklin, North Carolina, at the age of 57.
1993
Country singer Conway Twitty died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He had the 1958 US & UK #1 single "It's Only Make Believe". Until 2000, he held the record for the most #1 singles of any country act, with 45 #1's. He lived in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City.
1993
Toby Keith scores the first of his 20 #1 country hits when his first single, "Should've Been a Cowboy," reached the top of the charts.
2007
Gretchen Wilson was at #1 on the country charts with One of the Boys, her third album. The album produced three chart singles for Wilson on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts: "Come to Bed" (a duet with John Rich of Big & Rich), followed by the title track and "You Don't Have to Go Home", the first single of Wilson's career to miss Top 40 on the country charts.
2007
Porter Wagoner released his final album, Wagonmaster. The album received the best reviews of Wagoner's career and briefly appeared on the country chart. A music video was also produced of one of the tracks, a cover of Johnny Cash's "Committed to Parkview".
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