- Today in 1952, Hank Williams gave his final performance, for 130 people at a holiday party for members of the Musicians’ Union in Montgomery.
- Today in 1956, Charley Pride marries Rozene Cohran in Hernando, Mississippi.
- Today in 1985, The Judds climb to #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Have Mercy.”
- Today in 1991, Brad Paisley saw “Father Of The Bride” in West Virginia. The irony? He was on a first date, but infamously saw one of the film’s stars, Kimberly Williams for the first time. Fast forward four years later and that girlfriend dumped him for a friend…and he went to see “Father of the Bride II” in the hopes of getting cheered up. It worked, but they didn’t cross paths until 2000…when he asked that she star in his video for “I’m Gonna Miss Her.” They began dating soon after, got engaged eight months later…and married in 2003.
- Today in 1993, Billy Ray Cyrus married Leticia Finley at home in Williamson County, Tennessee. “One cannot stand at the crossroads forever,” said Cyrus, who dresses for the ceremony in blue jeans and a cut-up sweatshirt.
- Today in 1993, Shania Twain married songwriter/record producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange in Northern Ontario, Canada. It was revealed that they were separating on May 15th, 2008, after Lange allegedly had an affair with Twain’s best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud. Their divorce was finalized on June 9, 2010. Shania’s manager announced on December 20th, 2010, that Shania was engaged to Frédéric Thiébaud (the Swiss ex-husband of her former best friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud), an executive at Nestlé. They married on January 1st, 2011 in Rincón, Puerto Rico.
- Today in 2000, Montgomery Gentry played halftime during the Music City Bowl at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, as the West Virginia Mountaineers defeat the Ole Miss Rebels, 49-38.
- Today in 2002, George Strait’s “She’ll Leave You With A Smile” reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
- Today in 2003, “Billboard” magazine picked Dierks Bentley as the top new artist for 2003.
- Today in 2009, Charlie Daniels played a “mean fiddle” as a GEICO insurance commercial made its debut on television.
- Today in 2010, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman welcomed their daughter, Faith Margaret Kidman Urban. She had been born through a gestational surrogate at Nashville’s Centennial Medical Center.
- Today in 2012, in response to a request from a former president, The Oak Ridge Boys gathered around a phone to sing “Elvira” and a verse of “Amazing Grace” for George H.W. Bush, who was hospitalized in Houston.
- Today in 2019, Blake Shelton’s “Fully Loaded: God’s Country” debuted in the #1 position on the Billboard country albums chart.
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