Toby Keith’s “My List”: The Gentle Song He Didn’t Write That Became the Most-Played Country Hit of 2002
Toby Keith was known for big, brash songs: “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and, most…
Little Jimmy Dickens Sang on the Opry the Night After His 94th Birthday. Two Weeks Later, the Crowd Learned He Was Gone
For more than 66 years, Little Jimmy Dickens belonged to the Grand Ole Opry. He was its smallest star, its…
The Night Willie Nelson Helped Billy Joe Shaver Through the Loss of His Son
On New Year’s Eve 2000, Billy Joe Shaver lost his only son, Eddy Shaver. That same night, Billy Joe Shaver…
Johnny Cash’s Final Goodbye: The Funeral, Rosanne Cash’s Tears, and the Duet That Became a Farewell
Less than four months after Johnny Cash sat in a wheelchair at June Carter Cash’s funeral, more than 1,000 mourners…
The Country Hit That Was Traded for a 1947 Kaiser, and How It Led to Merle Haggard’s First Record
In the summer of 1953, a half-sung, half-spoken song about a soldier and a broken engagement swept across America. “A…
How Dottie West Became the First Woman to Win a Country Grammy, Beating Some of the Biggest Names of 1964
Today, the Grammy for a female country singer is one of the most familiar moments of music’s biggest night. Dolly…
Jerry Reed Wrote “East Bound and Down” After a Drive Home—But Almost Played a Different Role in “Smokey and the Bandit”
In 1977, Jerry Reed helped give America one of its most memorable movie songs. “East Bound and Down” sounded like…
Waylon Jennings Sang About Luckenbach, Texas, for 19 Years Before He Ever Went There
Few country songs have done more for a town than “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).” It turned…
The Night Waylon Jennings Died, Willie Nelson Kept Singing. What Willie Said Afterward Revealed 40 Years of Friendship.
On February 13, 2002, Willie Nelson walked onto a stage in Oroville, California, knowing that one of the closest friends…
Jerry Reed Wanted a Private Funeral. Two Weeks Later, Nashville’s Guitar Players Gave Him a Goodbye of Their Own.
Jerry Reed spent a lifetime making people laugh, sing along, and wonder how one man could make a guitar sound…