THEY WERE NEVER ACTUALLY BROTHERS. AND “STATLER” WASN’T EVEN THEIR FAMILY NAME. YET FOR FOUR DECADES, THE STATLER BROTHERS CREATED A SOUND THAT STILL FEELS IRREPLACEABLE.

THE STATLER BROTHERS WEREN’T BROTHERS. THEY WEREN’T STATLERS EITHER. BUT FOR FORTY YEARS, THEY SANG HARMONIES NOBODY HAS QUITE MATCHED SINCE. Folks still seek them out — in old jukeboxes, in church parking lots after Sunday service, in playlists their grandfathers made decades ago. That four-part harmony only happens when men have known each other … Đọc tiếp

SIX YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, HAROLD REID SAT DOWN ON THE FRONT PORCH OF HIS HOME IN STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, FOR THE LAST TIME. HIS VOICE, HOWEVER, NEVER LEFT.

SIX YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, HAROLD REID SAT DOWN ON HIS FRONT PORCH IN STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, AND DIDN’T GET BACK UP. THE BASS NOTES NEVER GOT THE MEMO. His voice still rolls out of kitchen radios on Sunday mornings, out of pickup trucks heading to church, out of living rooms where grown children put on … Đọc tiếp

THE NIGHT GEORGE JONES CHOSE TO STAY HOME—AND ALAN JACKSON MADE SURE HIS VOICE WAS STILL HEARD.

THE CMA NIGHT HE DIDN’T ATTEND THEY ASKED GEORGE JONES TO SING A SHORTENED VERSION OF “CHOICES.” HE STAYED HOME. THEN ALAN JACKSON STOPPED HIS OWN SONG AND SANG IT FOR HIM. By 1999, George Jones had already survived more than most country singers could put into one lifetime. The missed shows had become part … Đọc tiếp

NINETEEN YEARS AFTER MAKING IT A NUMBER ONE HIT, THE STATLER BROTHERS SANG “ELIZABETH” ONE LAST TIME—AND IT BECAME A FAREWELL NO ONE COULD FORGET.

AFTER 19 YEARS, THE STATLER BROTHERS TURNED ‘ELIZABETH’ INTO THEIR FINAL GOODBYE IN 2002. When ‘Elizabeth’ first reached Number One in 1983, it sounded like a love song filled with hope. But nineteen years later, under the fading lights of The Statler Brothers’ farewell concert, the words hit differently. As Jimmy Fortune stepped to the … Đọc tiếp

EVERYONE AROUND THEM THOUGHT THIS SONG WAS A MISTAKE — INCLUDING THE STATLER BROTHERS THEMSELVES.

EVERYONE THOUGHT THEY WERE CRAZY FOR RECORDING THIS SONG — EVEN The Statler Brothers DID. When the group first heard it in 1965, they were not sure what to make of it. The song was strange, funny, and completely different from the serious harmonies that had made them famous. A lonely man counting flowers on … Đọc tiếp

FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES, JOHNNY CASH AND WAYLON JENNINGS SHARED A FRIENDSHIP THAT SURVIVED FAME, FAILURE, ADDICTION, AND TIME. THEY KNEW EACH OTHER LONG BEFORE EITHER MAN BECAME A FAMILY MAN.

FOR FORTY YEARS, JOHNNY CASH AND WAYLON JENNINGS WERE THE KIND OF FRIENDS WHO KNEW EACH OTHER’S WORST SECRETS BEFORE EITHER OF THEM HAD CHILDREN. They met in the late 1950s in Phoenix, two young men who could already sing better than most people would in a lifetime. They became brothers somewhere along the way … Đọc tiếp

TWO OUTLAWS WALKED AWAY FROM A LOSING POKER GAME IN A FORT WORTH MOTEL IN 1969. WHAT THEY DIDN’T KNOW WAS THAT A SIMPLE NEWSPAPER AD WOULD INSPIRE A SONG THAT CHANGED COUNTRY MUSIC FOREVER.

TWO OUTLAWS LOST A POKER GAME IN A FORT WORTH MOTEL — 1969. BUT BETWEEN HANDS, THEY WROTE A SONG FROM A TINA TURNER NEWSPAPER AD. 7 years later, it hit #1 — and made Wanted! The Outlaws the first platinum country album in history. Willie Nelson only wrote one line. Waylon Jennings gave him … Đọc tiếp

THEY SAID HE WAS RUINING COUNTRY MUSIC… BUT HISTORY TOLD A DIFFERENT STORY

THEY SAID HE DESTROYED COUNTRY MUSIC… In the 1970s, Nashville turned its back on Waylon Jennings. Radio stations refused his records. Producers called him “difficult.” The industry whispered: “He’ll never work in this town again.” He grew his hair long. Wore leather instead of rhinestones. Told Nashville’s executives exactly where they could put their polished … Đọc tiếp

FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, WAYLON JENNINGS KEPT THE SAME GUITAR PICK IN HIS POCKET—YET HE NEVER USED IT TO PLAY A SINGLE NOTE.

WAYLON JENNINGS CARRIED THE SAME GUITAR PICK IN HIS POCKET FOR OVER 20 YEARS — BUT HE NEVER USED IT TO PLAY Waylon Jennings was known for doing things his own way. The outlaw. The rebel. But backstage, before every show, he had one quiet ritual no one could explain. He would reach into his … Đọc tiếp

SHE STOOD BESIDE JOHNNY CASH IN 1969 TO SING “I NEVER WILL MARRY.” STRANGELY ENOUGH, SHE NEVER WALKED DOWN THE AISLE HERSELF.

SHE SANG “I NEVER WILL MARRY” WITH JOHNNY CASH IN 1969. AND SHE NEVER DID. Linda Ronstadt was 23. Just left the Stone Poneys, solo debut barely two months old. And somehow she was standing on the Ryman stage next to the Man in Black, on ABC national television. June Carter sat in the front … Đọc tiếp