1996 In Country Music Wiki resources & 1996 In Country Music information at HealthHaven.com

1996 in country music:

1 Events
2 Top hits of the year
- 2.1 Number one hits
  - 2.1.1 United States
  - 2.1.2 Canada
- 2.2 Other major hits
  - 2.2.1 United States
  - 2.2.2 Canada
3 Top new album releases
- 3.1 Other top albums
4 Deaths
5 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees
6 Major Awards
7 Further reading
8 Other links
9 External links

[edit] Events

June 28 - First annual Country Stampede Music Festival begins
October 6 – Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are married, and quickly become country music's most visible couple. Their friendship grew into romance during their successful "Spontaneous Combustion" tour that year.

[edit] Top hits of the year

[edit] Number one hits

[edit] United States

Date	Song Name	Artist	Wks. No. 1	Spec. Note
January 6	Rebecca Lynn	Bryan White	1
January 13	It Matters to Me	Faith Hill	3
February 3	(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!	Shania Twain	2
February 17	Bigger Than the Beatles	Joe Diffie	2	^B
March 2	Wild Angels	Martina McBride	1	^A
March 9	I'll Try	Alan Jackson	1
March 16	The Beaches of Cheyenne	Garth Brooks	1
March 23	You Can Feel Bad	Patty Loveless	2
April 6	To Be Loved by You	Wynonna	1	^B Wynonna's first Number One since "No One Else on Earth" in 1992.
April 13	No News	Lonestar	3	^A
May 4	You Win My Love	Shania Twain	2	Fell from #1 to #11, the second-biggest fall from #1 since the inception of Nielsen SoundScan in 1990.
May 18	My Maria	Brooks & Dunn	3	¹ Cover of B.W. Stevenson's pop hit from 1973.
June 8	Blue Clear Sky	George Strait	2
June 22	Time Marches On	Tracy Lawrence	3
July 13	No One Needs to Know	Shania Twain	1
July 20	Daddy's Money	Ricochet	2	^C
August 3	Don't Get Me Started	Rhett Akins	1	^C
August 10	Carried Away	George Strait	3	Strait's 30th Billboard Number One, this made him the fifth country artist to have at least that many Number Ones.
August 31	She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart	Tim McGraw	2
September 14	Guys Do It All the Time	Mindy McCready	1	^C
September 21	So Much for Pretending	Bryan White	2
October 5	Living in a Moment	Ty Herndon	1
October 12	Believe Me Baby (I Lied)	Trisha Yearwood	2
October 26	Like the Rain	Clint Black	3
November 16	Lonely Too Long	Patty Loveless	1	^B
November 23	Strawberry Wine	Deana Carter	2	^A
December 7	Little Bitty	Alan Jackson	3
December 28	One Way Ticket (Because I Can)	LeAnn Rimes	2	^C This song made Rimes (who was 14 years and four months old at the time) the fourth country singer to reach #1 while still a teenager.

¹ - No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard magazine.
^A - First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
^B - Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.
^C - Only Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

[edit] Canada

(as certified by RPM)

Date	Song Name	Artist	Wks. No. 1	Spec. Note
January 8	(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!	Shania Twain	6
February 19	Bigger Than the Beatles	Joe Diffie	1	^[B]
February 26	Like There Ain't No Yesterday	BlackHawk	1	^[B]
March 4	Tell Me Something I Don't Know	Charlie Major	1
March 11	The Beaches of Cheyenne	Garth Brooks	1
March 18	Candle	Jason McCoy	1
March 25	You Can Feel Bad	Patty Loveless	1	^[B]
April 1	No News	Lonestar	1	^[A]
April 8	You Win My Love	Shania Twain	3
April 29	My Heart Has a History	Paul Brandt	2	^[A]
May 13	It's Lonely I Can't Stand	Charlie Major	1
May 20	My Maria	Brooks & Dunn	2
June 3	If I Were You	Terri Clark	1	^[A]
June 10	Blue Clear Sky	George Strait	2
June 24	Time Marches On	Tracy Lawrence	1
July 1	High Lonesome Sound	Vince Gill	1
July 8	Anita Got Married	Duane Steele	1	^[C]
July 15	No One Needs to Know	Shania Twain	2
July 29	Blue	LeAnn Rimes	2	^[A]
August 12	Sure Enough	Chris Cummings	1	^[A]
August 19	Nobody's Girl	Michelle Wright	1
August 26	I Do	Paul Brandt	2
September 9	Guys Do It All the Time	Mindy McCready	2	^[C]
September 23	So Much for Pretending	Bryan White	1	^[A]
September 30	Living in a Moment	Ty Herndon	2	^[B]
October 14	You Can't Lose Me	Faith Hill	1
October 21	Believe Me Baby (I Lied)	Trisha Yearwood	1
October 28	Like the Rain	Clint Black	2
November 11	Unbelievable Love	Prairie Oyster	1	^[B]
November 18	Cornfields or Cadillacs	Farmer's Daughter	1	^[C]
November 25	Strawberry Wine	Deana Carter	1	^[A]
December 2	The Fear of Being Alone	Reba McEntire	1
December 9	Poor Poor Pitiful Me	Terri Clark	1
December 16	Crank My Tractor	Michelle Wright	1	^[B]

Notes

A^ First RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
B^ Last RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
C^ Only RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.

[edit] Other major hits

[edit] United States

Peak	Single	Artist	Notes
21	4 to 1 in Atlanta	Tracy Byrd
15	Ain't Got Nothin' on Us	John Michael Montgomery
5	All I Want Is a Life	Tim McGraw
13	All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down	The Mavericks with Flaco Jiménez	This was Jiménez' only entry on the country charts, although he has played accordion on several other notable recordings and made several solo albums.
11	Almost a Memory Now	BlackHawk
24	Are We in Trouble Now	Randy Travis
17	Big Guitar	BlackHawk
10	Blue	LeAnn Rimes	LeAnn Rimes' breakthrough hit, which was only released when she was 13 years old. The song was originally meant for Patsy Cline, but Cline died in a plane crash before it could be recorded.
12	Born in the Dark	Doug Stone
18	Bury the Shovel	Clay Walker
18	By My Side	Lorrie Morgan with Jon Randall	Randall's only Top 40 country hit.
19	The Change	Garth Brooks
10	Change My Mind	John Berry
23	C-O-U-N-T-R-Y	Joe Diffie
4	Cowboy Love	John Michael Montgomery
6	Deep Down	Pam Tillis
2	Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You	Toby Keith
3	Every Light in the House	Trace Adkins
2	Every Time I Get Around You	David Lee Murphy
2	The Fear of Being Alone	Reba McEntire
12	Givin' Water to a Drowning Man	Lee Roy Parnell
6	Goodnight Sweetheart	David Kersh
23	Grandpa Told Me So	Kenny Chesney
2	Heads Carolina, Tails California	Jo Dee Messina
21	Heart Half Empty	Ty Herndon with Stephanie Bentley
3	Heart's Desire	Lee Roy Parnell
14	Heaven Help My Heart	Wynonna
14	Heaven in My Woman's Eyes	Tracy Byrd
12	High Lonesome Sound	Vince Gill with Alison Krauss
6	Holdin' On to Something	Jeff Carson
3	Home	Alan Jackson	The original version of this song, from Jackson's 1989 debut album Here in the Real World, was issued as a single in 1996.
23	Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best	Marty Stuart with Travis Tritt
2	Hypnotize the Moon	Clay Walker
2	I Am That Man	Brooks & Dunn
4	I Can Still Make Cheyenne	George Strait
2	I Do	Paul Brandt
2	I Don't Think I Will	James Bonamy
5	I Know She Still Loves Me	George Strait
3	I Think About You	Collin Raye
4	I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore	Bryan White
8	If I Were You	Terri Clark
4	If You Loved Me	Tracy Lawrence
22	Irresistible You	Ty England
19	It Works	Alabama
7	It Wouldn't Hurt to Have Wings	Mark Chesnutt
15	It's All in Your Head	Diamond Rio	Co-written by Van Stephenson, then a member of BlackHawk.
14	It's Lonely out There	Pam Tillis
5	It's Midnight Cinderella	Garth Brooks
5	It's What I Do	Billy Dean
6	Jacob's Ladder	Mark Wills
2	Learning as You Go	Rick Trevino
3	Like There Ain't No Yesterday	BlackHawk
4	Long as I Live	John Michael Montgomery
9	Love Is Stronger Than Pride	Ricochet
12	Love Remains	Collin Raye
4	The Maker Said Take Her	Alabama
13	Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing	Brooks & Dunn
2	Me and You	Kenny Chesney
5	Meant to Be	Sammy Kershaw
3	More Than You'll Ever Know	Travis Tritt
5	My Heart Has a History	Paul Brandt
3	Not Enough Hours in the Night	Doug Supernaw
3	Not That Different	Collin Raye
2	On a Good Night	Wade Hayes
5	Only on Days That End in "Y"	Clay Walker
13	Out with a Bang	David Lee Murphy
5	Poor Poor Pitiful Me	Terri Clark	Cover of a Warren Zevon song which was also a Top 40 pop hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1977.
20	Ready, Willing and Able	Lari White
18	Redneck 12 Days of Christmas	Jeff Foxworthy	Co-written with singer/comedian Tim Wilson, this song was the only Top 40 country hit for comedian Jeff Foxworthy, although he had released several other comedy tracks to radio.
9	Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands	Reba McEntire	Cover of Lee Greenwood's #5 hit from 1982.
8	The River and the Highway	Pam Tillis
5	The Road You Leave Behind	David Lee Murphy
19	'Round Here	Sawyer Brown
8	Runnin' Away with My Heart	Lonestar
17	She Said Yes	Rhett Akins
13	Some Things Are Meant to Be	Linda Davis	Davis's first Top 40 hit since "Does He Love You" (a duet with Reba McEntire) in mid-1993.
3	Someone Else's Dream	Faith Hill
2	Stars over Texas	Tracy Lawrence
19	Starting Over Again	Reba McEntire	Cover of Dolly Parton's Number One hit from 1980.
6	Ten Thousand Angels	Mindy McCready
4	That Girl's Been Spying on Me	Billy Dean
4	That Ol' Wind	Garth Brooks
18	That's Enough of That	Mila Mason
4	That's What I Get for Loving You	Diamond Rio
4	Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye	Neal McCoy	Cover of The Casinos' hit single from 1967.
20	There's a Girl in Texas	Trace Adkins
13	A Thousand Times a Day	Patty Loveless
4	Too Much Fun	Daryle Singletary
3	Treat Her Right	Sawyer Brown
10	Vidalia	Sammy Kershaw
2	Walkin' Away	Diamond Rio
5	What Do I Know	Ricochet
5	What I Meant to Say	Wade Hayes
12	When a Woman Loves a Man	Lee Roy Parnell
3	When Boy Meets Girl	Terri Clark
23	Whole Lotta Gone	Joe Diffie
22	Without Your Love	Aaron Tippin
6	A Woman's Touch	Toby Keith
5	Worlds Apart	Vince Gill
25	Would I	Randy Travis
6	You Can't Lose Me	Faith Hill
3	You Gotta Love That	Neal McCoy
7	You're Not in Kansas Anymore	Jo Dee Messina

[edit] Canada

Peak	Single	Artist	Notes
18	4 to 1 in Atlanta	Tracy Byrd
3	Ain't Got Nothin' on Us	John Michael Montgomery
2	All I Want Is a Life	Tim McGraw
18	All She Wants	Rena Gaile
4	All the Way	Jason McCoy
15	All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down	The Mavericks with Flaco Jiménez
14	Almost a Memory Now	BlackHawk
23	Always Have, Always Will	Shenandoah
5	Ancient History	Prairie Oyster
18	Are We in Trouble Now	Randy Travis
25	Beg, Borrow and Steal the World	Sean Hogan
8	Big Guitar	BlackHawk
24	Bury the Shovel	Clay Walker
21	By My Side	Lorrie Morgan with Jon Randall
4	Can't Be Really Gone	Tim McGraw
3	The Car	Jeff Carson
2	Carried Away	George Strait
8	The Change	Garth Brooks
21	Cherokee Boogie	BR5-49
10	Cloud of Dust	Rena Gaile
4	Cowboy Love	John Michael Montgomery
3	Daddy's Money	Ricochet
2	Deep Down	Pam Tillis
9	Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You	Toby Keith
8	Don't Get Me Started	Rhett Akins
10	Every Light in the House	Trace Adkins
2	Every Time I Get Around You	David Lee Murphy	No. 1 song of the year, as determined by RPM.
17	Every Time My Heart Calls Your Name	John Berry
2	The Fever	Garth Brooks
20	A Fine Line	Lawnie Wallace
14	Foolproof	Desert Dolphins
18	Forty Days and Nights	The Rankin Family
10	Givin' Water to a Drowning Man	Lee Roy Parnell
17	Grandpa Told Me So	Kenny Chesney
3	Heads Carolina, Tails California	Jo Dee Messina
12	Heart Half Empty	Ty Herndon with Stephanie Bentley
3	Heart's Desire	Lee Roy Parnell
5	Heaven Help My Heart	Wynonna
22	Hillbilly Country Boy	The Johner Brothers
20	Holdin' On to Something	Jeff Carson
5	Home	Alan Jackson
10	Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)	Shania Twain
8	Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best	Marty Stuart with Travis Tritt
6	Hypnotize the Moon	Clay Walker
3	I Am That Man	Brooks & Dunn
2	I Can Still Make Cheyenne	George Strait
8	I Don't Think I Will	James Bonamy
8	I Know She Still Loves Me	George Strait
2	I Think About You	Collin Raye
4	I Waited	Chris Cummings
5	I'll Try	Alan Jackson
2	I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore	Bryan White
11	If I Had Any Pride Left at All	John Berry
13	If You Loved Me	Tracy Lawrence
25	Irresistible You	Ty England
2	It Matters to Me	Faith Hill
17	It Works	Alabama
4	It Wouldn't Hurt to Have Wings	Mark Chesnutt
17	It's All in Your Head	Diamond Rio
21	It's Lonely out There	Pam Tillis
2	It's Midnight Cinderella	Garth Brooks
11	It's What I Do	Billy Dean
6	Jacob's Ladder	Mark Wills
3	Keep Me Rockin'	Patricia Conroy
23	Lisa Marie	Desert Dolphins
3	Lonely Too Long	Patty Loveless
4	Long as I Live	John Michael Montgomery
10	Love Is Stronger Than Pride	Ricochet
13	Love Music Loves to Dance	Calvin Wiggett
20	Love Remains	Collin Raye
22	A Love Story in the Making	Linda Davis
13	The Maker Said Take Her	Alabama
8	Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing	Brooks & Dunn
8	Me and You	Kenny Chesney
4	Meant to Be	Sammy Kershaw
7	More Than You'll Ever Know	Travis Tritt
22	My Angel Is Here	Wynonna
4	Not Enough Hours in the Night	Doug Supernaw
10	Not That Different	Collin Raye
4	On a Good Night	Wade Hayes
4	One Step Back	Jamie Warren
7	Only on Days That End in "Y"	Clay Walker
5	Out with a Bang	David Lee Murphy
21	Paradise	John Anderson
24	Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town	Martina McBride
14	Ready, Willing and Able	Lari White
2	Rebecca Lynn	Bryan White
16	Rhythm of Your Wings	Gary Fjellgaard
14	Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands	Reba McEntire
14	The River and the Highway	Pam Tillis
12	The Road You Leave Behind	David Lee Murphy
19	'Round Here	Sawyer Brown
9	Roving Gypsy Boy	The Rankin Family
9	Runnin' Away with My Heart	Lonestar
18	Say I	Alabama
5	She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart	Tim McGraw
20	She Said Yes	Rhett Akins
20	She's Got a Mind of Her Own	James Bonamy
14	Sittin' Pretty	Thomas Wade
18	So, So Long	Rachel Matkin
13	Some Things Are Meant to Be	Linda Davis
8	Someone Else's Dream	Faith Hill
2	Stuck on Your Love	Duane Steele
11	Suddenly Single	Terri Clark
13	Take You by the Heart	The Cruzeros
13	Ten Thousand Angels	Mindy McCready
3	That Girl's Been Spyin' on Me	Billy Dean
19	That's What I Get for Lovin' You	Diamond Rio
7	Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye	Neal McCoy
8	Thought I Was Dreaming	Lawnie Wallace
3	To Be Loved by You	Wynonna
10	Too Much Fun	Daryle Singletary
19	Treat Her Right	Sawyer Brown
3	The Trouble with Love	Duane Steele
7	Vidalia	Sammy Kershaw
2	Waiting on You	Charlie Major
2	Walkin' Away	Diamond Rio
12	Watching Her Sleep	Jamie Warren
21	What Do I Know	Ricochet
15	What I Meant to Say	Wade Hayes
25	The Wheel of Love (Is a Lifetime Ride)	Rick Tippe
3	When Boy Meets Girl	Terri Clark
18	When Cowboys Didn't Dance	Lonestar
21	Whole Lotta Gone	Joe Diffie
15	Wild and Free	Joan Kennedy
5	Wild Angels	Martina McBride
15	Windows to the Past	The Neilsons
11	A Woman's Touch	Toby Keith
6	Worlds Apart	Vince Gill
13	Wrong Place, Wrong Time	Mark Chesnutt
13	You Gotta Love That	Neal McCoy
22	You're Not in Kansas Anymore	Jo Dee Messina
8	Zero to Sixty	Thomas Wade

[edit] Top new album releases

US	CAN	Album	Artist	Record Label
	21	All the Good 'Uns (The Best of Ian Tyson)	Ian Tyson	Stony Plain
	10	Anne Murray	Anne Murray	SBK/Capitol
	13	The Best of Country Heat	Various Artists	BMG
17	9	The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney	Various Artists	Walt Disney
7	3	Between Now and Forever	Bryan White	Asylum
12	18	Big Love	Tracy Byrd	MCA Nashville
	13	The Birth of a Star	Patsy Cline	Razor & Tie
1	1	Blue	LeAnn Rimes	Curb
1	3	Blue Clear Sky	George Strait	MCA Nashville
6		Blue Moon	Toby Keith	A&M
	5	Blue Plate Special	Prairie Oyster	Velvel
1	1	Borderline	Brooks & Dunn	Arista Nashville
33	12	BR5-49	BR5-49	Arista Nashville
	1	Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace)	Bob Carlisle	DMG
14	1	Calm Before the Storm	Paul Brandt	Reprise
23		Christmas: The Gift	Collin Raye	Epic
18		Christmas Volume II	Alabama	RCA Nashville
	1	CMT Canada '96	Various Artists	BMG
	1	Collection	The Rankin Family	EMI
3		Crank It Up: The Music Album	Jeff Foxworthy	Warner Bros.
2	1	Did I Shave My Legs for This?	Deana Carter	Capitol Nashville
6	16	Dreamin' Out Loud	Trace Adkins	Capitol Nashville
6	22	Everybody Knows	Trisha Yearwood	MCA Nashville
1	1	Everything I Love	Alan Jackson	Arista Nashville
9	9	Faces	John Berry	Capitol Nashville
74	6	For Me It's You	Michelle Wright	Arista Nashville
	4	Friends & Lovers	Various Artists	Sony
9	10	Full Circle	Randy Travis	Warner Bros.
12	6	Gettin' Out the Good Stuff	David Lee Murphy	MCA Nashville
10		The Gift	Kenny Rogers	Magnatone
21		Goodnight Sweetheart	David Kersh	Curb
8	9	Greater Need	Lorrie Morgan	BNA
2	5	Greatest Hits	Clint Black	RCA Nashville
18	14	Greatest Hits	Mark Chesnutt	Decca Nashville
3	5	High Lonesome Sound	Vince Gill	MCA Nashville
27	21	Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best	Marty Stuart	MCA Nashville
23		I Stoled This Record	Cledus T. Judd	Razor & Tie
18		It's What I Do	Billy Dean	Capitol Nashville
14	4	IV	Diamond Rio	Arista Nashville
22	8	Jo Dee Messina	Jo Dee Messina	Curb
10	3	Just the Same	Terri Clark	Mercury/PolyGram
17		Learning as You Go	Rick Trevino	Columbia
74	18	Lisa Brokop	Lisa Brokop	Capitol Nashville
6	18	Living in a Moment	Ty Herndon	Epic
	11	Makin' Hay	Farmer's Daughter	Universal
9		Me and You	Kenny Chesney	BNA
4	2	Measure of a Man	Kevin Sharp	Asylum
7	7	Neal McCoy	Neal McCoy	Atlantic
	3	New Country 3	Various Artists	Warner
19	11	Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly)	Various Artists	Decca Nashville
11		On a Good Night	Wade Hayes	Columbia
3	13	A Place in the World	Mary Chapin Carpenter	Columbia
17		Politics, Religion and Her	Sammy Kershaw	Mercury/PolyGram
36	13	Reflections: Songs of Love	John Denver	RCA
7	8	The Restless Kind	Travis Tritt	Warner Bros.
2	1	Revelations	Wynonna	Curb/MCA Nashville
14	12	Ricochet	Ricochet	Columbia
4		The Road to Ensenada	Lyle Lovett	Curb
19		Shady Grove	Jerry Garcia & David Grisman	Acoustic Disc
72	11	Solid Ground	Ricky Skaggs	Atlantic
13		Somebody New	Rhett Akins	Decca Nashville
	21	Somewhere Inside	Chris Cummings	Warner
20	4	Spirit	Willie Nelson	Island
12	11	Stars and Stripes Vol. 1	The Beach Boys	River North
	21	Steppin' Country 2	Various Artists	Columbia
5	1	Ten Thousand Angels	Mindy McCready	BNA
3	3	Tennessee Moon	Neil Diamond	Columbia
43	20	That's Enough of That	Mila Mason	Atlantic
4	4	Time Marches On	Tracy Lawrence	Atlantic
20	14	Trail of Tears	Billy Ray Cyrus	Mercury/PolyGram
21	24	Treasures	Dolly Parton	Rising Tide
10	16	The Trouble with the Truth	Patty Loveless	Epic
	8	Untamed and True 3	Various Artists	MCA
20		Used Heart for Sale	Gary Allan	Decca Nashville
5	14	What I Do the Best	John Michael Montgomery	Atlantic
16		What I Live to Do	James Bonamy	Epic
1	3	What If It's You	Reba McEntire	MCA Nashville

[edit] Other top albums

US	CAN	Album	Artist	Record Label
40		A.K.A. Wham Bam Sam	Hank Williams, Jr.	Curb
74		Almost Alone	Chet Atkins	Columbia
53		Don't Fence Me In	Lari White	RCA Nashville
73		Elvis: Great Country Songs	Elvis Presley	RCA
51		Give Me Some Wheels	Suzy Bogguss	Capitol Nashville
56		Greatest Hits	John Anderson	BNA
60		Greatest Hits	Confederate Railroad	Atlantic
	36	Hang of the Heartache	Desert Dolphins	Quality
39		Hit Country '96	Various Artists	K-Tel
43		The Hits	Hal Ketchum	Curb
26		I Lived to Tell It All	George Jones	MCA Nashville
47		I Will Always Love You and Other Greatest Hits	Dolly Parton	Columbia
53		Live	Jeff Foxworthy	Laughing Hyena
47		The Luv Collection: Real Luv	Various Artists	EMI-Capitol
60	28	Mandy Barnett	Mandy Barnett	Asylum
38		Mark Wills	Mark Wills	Mercury Nashville
45		My Roots Are Showing…	K. T. Oslin	BNA
38		NASCAR: Hotter Than Asphalt	Various Artists	Columbia
66		NFL Country	Various Artists	Gridiron
54		Now and Then	Shenandoah	Capitol Nashville
40		Paradise	John Anderson	BNA
	32	P.O. Box 423	Duane Steele	Mercury/PolyGram
	36	Remembering Stan Rogers: An East Coast Tribute II	Various Artists	Atlantica
50		The Rocky Mountain Collection	John Denver	RCA
32		Semi Crazy	Junior Brown	Curb
37		Smokin' Armadillos	Smokin' Armadillos	Curb
26		Some Things Are Meant to Be	Linda Davis	Arista Nashville
33		Stampede	Chris LeDoux	Capitol Nashville
38		Star of Wonder – A Country Christmas Collection	Various Artists	Arista Nashville
44		Starlite Lounge	David Ball	Warner Bros.
46		Super Hits	Alabama	RCA Nashville
66		Super Hits	Waylon Jennings	RCA Nashville
51		Super Hits	Keith Whitley	RCA Nashville
29		Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts	Hank Williams, Hank Williams, Jr. & Hank Williams III	Curb
54		Two Ways to Fall	Ty England	RCA Nashville
26		Unchained	Johnny Cash	American
42	31	You Still Got Me	Doug Supernaw	Giant

[edit] Deaths

March 4 – Minnie Pearl, 83, legendary comedienne known for her trademark greeting, "How-dee!" and her straw hat with price tag; a regular on Hee Haw (stroke).
May 3 – Patsy Montana, 87, first female country singer to have a single sell one million copies ("I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart").
December 10 - Faron Young, 64, Nicknamed "The Hillbilly Heartthrob", and "The Singing Sheriff" he had many hits including "Hello Walls" and "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" (suicide).

[edit] Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

[edit] Major Awards

[edit] Grammy awards

Best Female Country Vocal Performance -- "Blue," LeAnn Rimes
Best Male Country Vocal Performance -- "Worlds Apart," Vince Gill
Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal -- "My Maria," Brooks & Dunn
Best Country Collaboration With Vocals -- "High Lonesome Sound," Vince Gill (featuring Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Best Country Instrumental Performance -- "Jam Man," Chet Atkins
Best Country Song -- "Blue," Bill Mack (Performer: LeAnn Rimes)
Best Country Album -- The Road to Ensenada, Lyle Lovett (Producers: Billy Williams and Lyle Lovett)
Best Bluegrass Album -- True Life Blues - The Songs of Bill Monroe, Various Artists (Producer: Todd Phillips)

[edit] Academy of Country Music

Entertainer Of The Year -- Brooks & Dunn
Song Of The Year -- "Blue," Bill Mack
Single Of The Year -- "Blue," LeAnn Rimes
Album Of The Year -- Blue Clear Sky, George Strait
Top Male Vocalist -- George Strait
Top Female Vocalist -- Patty Loveless
Top Vocal Duo -- Brooks & Dunn
Top Vocal Group -- Sawyer Brown
Top New Male Vocalist -- Trace Adkins
Top New Female Vocalist -- LeAnn Rimes
Top New Vocal Duo Or Group -- Ricochet
Video Of The Year -- "I Think About You," Collin Raye (Director: Steven Goldmann)

[edit] Country Music Association

Entertainer of the Year -- Brooks & Dunn
Song of the Year -- "Go Rest High on That Mountain," Vince Gill
Single of the Year -- "Check Yes or No," George Strait
Album of the Year -- Blue Clear Sky, George Strait
Male Vocalist of the Year -- George Strait
Female Vocalist of the Year -- Patty Loveless
Vocal Duo of the Year -- Brooks & Dunn
Vocal Group of the Year -- The Mavericks
Horizon Award -- Bryan White
Music Video of the Year -- "My Wife Thinks You're Dead," Junior Brown (Director: Michael McNamara)
Vocal Event of the Year -- "I Will Always Love You," Dolly Parton and Vince Gill
Musician of the Year -- Mark O'Connor

[edit] Further reading

Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.