Today in 2010, the movie, “Country Strong,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw, premiered at Nashville’s Green Hills 16 theaters.

The film, about an emotionally unstable country music star who attempts to resurrect her career, was directed and written by American filmmaker Shana Feste. It premiered in Nashville, Tennessee on November 8, 2010, and had a wide release in the United States on January 7, 2011. This is the second film in which McGraw and Hedlund have worked together, the first being Friday Night Lights in 2004.

This day in 2002: Johnny Cash’s “American IV: The Man Comes Around” album was released. It’s the last album of new material issued during the singer’s life.

The album was included in the book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”.

The majority of songs are covers which Cash performs in his own sparse style, with help from producer Rick Rubin. For instance, for the song “Personal Jesus”, Rubin asked then-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante to re-work an acoustic version of Martin Gore’s song, which featured a simple acoustic riff that stripped down the song to a blues style. He receives backing vocal assistance from various artists, including Fiona Apple, Nick Cave, and Don Henley.

The video for “Hurt”, a song written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and originally released in 1994, was nominated in seven categories at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards and won the award for Best Cinematography. In 2003, mere days before his 71st birthday, Cash won a Grammy for “Give My Love To Rose”, a song Cash had originally recorded in the late 1950s. Cash was also nominated that year for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for his “Bridge over Troubled Water” cover with Fiona Apple. The music video for “Hurt” also won the award for Best Short Form Video in 2004.

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor admitted that he was initially “flattered” but worried that “the idea of Cash covering ‘Hurt’ sounded a bit gimmicky,” but when he heard the song and saw the video for the first time, Reznor said he was deeply moved and found Cash’s cover beautiful and meaningful, going as far as to say “that song isn’t mine anymore.”

Graeme Thomson, in The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption, and American Recordings, has discussed concern about Cash’s health during the recording. Cash was suffering from multiple health problems and had lost most of his vision, with recording sessions interrupted by hospital stays. Thompson quotes singer Will Oldham: “We should turn and switch off the tape when our listening energy would be better spent helping a living songwriter/performer.”

American IV: The Man Comes Around was Cash’s first non-compilation album to go gold in thirty years. Additionally, the album won “Album of the Year” award at the 2003 CMA Awards. It was certified gold on March 24, 2003 and platinum on November 21, 2003 by the R.I.A.A.

Today in 1978, Barbara Mandrell had her first #1 hit on the country charts with “Sleeping Single In A Double Bed.”

Written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan, it was the first single from her album Moods. “Sleeping Single In a Double Bed” was Barbara Mandrell’s twenty-sixth chart hit on Billboard magazine’s Hot Country Singles, the first of her six #1 singles on that chart. The single stayed at the top for three weeks (November 1978) and spent a total of eleven weeks in the top 40. In early 1980, the song won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Single.

Today in 2012, Blake Shelton won three trophies during the 46th annual Country Music Association awards, broadcast on ABC from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. He takes Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist and shares Song of the Year with Miranda Lambert, for “Over You.”

Today in 1982, Alabama made their first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.

Alabama was founded by Randy Owen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and his cousin Teddy Gentry (bass, backing vocals). They were soon joined by their other cousin, Jeff Cook (lead guitar, fiddle, and keyboards). First operating under the name Wildcountry, the group toured the Southeast bar circuit in the early 1970s, and began writing original songs. They changed their name to Alabama in 1977 and following the chart success of two singles, were approached by RCA Records for a record deal.

Alabama’s biggest success came in the 1980s, where the band had over 27 number one hits, seven multi-platinum albums and received numerous awards. Alabama’s first single on RCA Records, “Tennessee River”, began a streak of 21 number one singles, including “Love in the First Degree” (1981), “Mountain Music” (1982), “Dixieland Delight” (1983), “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)” (1984) and “Song of the South” (1988). The band’s popularity waned slightly in the 1990s although they continued to produce hit singles and multi-platinum album sales. Alabama disbanded in 2003 following a farewell tour and two albums of inspirational music but reunited in 2010 and have continued to record and tour worldwide.

The band’s blend of traditional country music and Southern rock combined with elements of bluegrass, folk, gospel and pop music gave it a crossover appeal that helped lead to their success. They also toured extensively and incorporated production elements such as lighting and “sets” inspired by rock concerts into their shows. The band has over 41 number one country records on the Billboard charts to their credit and have sold over 75 million records, making them the most successful band in country music history. AllMusic credited the band with popularizing the idea of a country band and wrote that “It’s unlikely that any other country group will be able to surpass the success of Alabama.”