On this day January 01, 1959

Sun Studio was opened by Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with Sun Records. Rock-and-roll, country music, and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash...

Charley Pride was at #1 with the compilation album , the record's third week in the top spot. It remained the atop the chart for a further 10 weeks before being displaced by by Merle Haggard. Pride would go on to achieve two further #1's during the year.

Charley Pride's album went to #1. Pride's album remained in the top spot for a total of 16 consecutive weeks. When it was eventually displaced from the top spot it was by the compilation album , which also spent 16 weeks at #1. Pride therefore topped ...

Johnny Cash played a free concert for the inmates of San Quentin Prison, California. One of the audience members was 19 year-old Merle Haggard, who was in the midst of a 15 year sentence (he served three years) for grand theft auto and armed robbery.

Johnny Cash released his 33rd album on Columbia Records which peaked at #1 on the Country charts. "If I Were a Carpenter", a famous duet with Cash's wife, June Carter Cash taken from the album earned the couple a Grammy Award for Best Country Performa...

John Denver was at #1 on the US Country chart with his eighth studio album . The multi-platinum album contained the hit singles "Annie's Song" and "Back Home Again". In addition, the studio versions of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and "Sweet Surrender...

American singer-songwriter and musician Hank Williams died aged 29. Williams is regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time. 35 of his singles (five released posthumously) were placed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country &...

Shania Twain married Frederic Thiebaud in Puerto Rico (who was the ex-husband of her former best friend). Shania had been married to producer Mutt Lange who she first met at Nashville's Fan Fair in June 1993. Twain and Lange became very close within ju...