PATSY CLINE WAS LYING IN A HOSPITAL BED WITH HER FACE BANDAGED. THEN SHE HEARD A POOR KENTUCKY GIRL SING HER SONG ON THE RADIO — AND TOLD HER HUSBAND TO GO FIND HER. In June 1961, Patsy Cline was not thinking about making a new friend. She was trying to stay alive. A head-on … Đọc tiếp
SHE SAID A MAN WITH A GUN WAS WAITING IN THE BACK SEAT. DAYS LATER, TAMMY WYNETTE STILL WALKED ONSTAGE IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Tammy Wynette already knew what it meant to sing pain for a living. By 1978, she was not just a country star. She was the woman behind “Stand by Your Man,” “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” … Đọc tiếp
ONE SONG TAUGHT CHILDREN TO SPELL DIVORCE. THE OTHER TAUGHT THE WORLD TO TELL WOMEN TO STAY. By 1968, Tammy Wynette had become country music’s sharpest voice for women who were carrying too much. “I Don’t Wanna Play House” had already put broken families into country radio. Then came “D-I-V-O-R-C-E.” Tammy did not sing it … Đọc tiếp
“HE WROTE 60+ SONGS FOR GEORGE STRAIT — BUT THE WORLD BARELY NOTICED HIS OWN ALBUM.” In 1991, Dean Dillon released Out of Your Ever Lovin’ Mind on Atlantic Records. By then, he’d already written over 60 songs for George Strait. “The Chair.” “Ocean Front Property.” “Easy Come, Easy Go.” Eleven of them reached #1. … Đọc tiếp
“HE WROTE 60+ SONGS FOR GEORGE STRAIT — BUT THE WORLD BARELY NOTICED HIS OWN ALBUM.” In 1991, Dean Dillon released Out of Your Ever Lovin’ Mind on Atlantic Records. By then, he’d already written over 60 songs for George Strait. “The Chair.” “Ocean Front Property.” “Easy Come, Easy Go.” Eleven of them reached #1. … Đọc tiếp
HE WAS REJECTED BY AMERICAN IDOL. 3 YEARS LATER, HIS IDOL HANDED HIM AN AWARD ON NATIONAL TV. At the 2019 CMT Music Awards, Toby Keith walked out on stage to present an award. The name he called was Kane Brown. For a kid who grew up moving from town to town across Georgia, sometimes … Đọc tiếp
HE WAS FIGHTING CANCER — BUT YOU’D NEVER KNOW IT FROM HIS LAST CONCERT. On his last nights on stage, Toby Keith didn’t say a word about the pain. He just tipped his hat, grabbed the mic, and gave every last drop of himself to the crowd. The audience sang along, laughed, cheered — not … Đọc tiếp
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
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
THE STATLER BROTHERS NEVER LEFT THEIR SMALL TOWN — AND FOR 25 YEARS, THEY BROUGHT 100,000 PEOPLE TO IT EVERY FOURTH OF JULY. THEN THEY RETIRED, AND THE BIGGEST DAY IN STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, DISAPPEARED OVERNIGHT. They weren’t brothers. None of them was named Statler. They got the name from a box of tissues in a … Đọc tiếp