Introduction At the 1999 CMA Awards, Alan Jackson was supposed to perform his own song. Instead, halfway through his performance, he stopped and sang George Jones. The reason was simple.…
Introduction The Beatles’ final public performance did not happen in a stadium, a theater, or even a proper concert venue. It happened on a rooftop. On January 30, 1969, John…
Introduction One of the strangest facts about ABBA is that Björn Ulvaeus has said he remembers surprisingly little of some of the biggest moments in the group’s history. In a…
Background While the public still saw Dolly Parton smiling on television, working on new projects, and appearing as energetic as ever, a much quieter part of her life was unfolding…
Introduction Richard Street had one distinction that set him apart from the men who formed the classic Temptations lineup: he was actually born and raised in Detroit. That may sound…
Background By the late 1960s, Paul Williams was sometimes stepping offstage and reaching for an oxygen tank just so he could keep performing with The Temptations. To the audience, the…
Introduction By the time Toby Keith released “Red Solo Cup” in 2011, the red plastic party cup was already deeply embedded in American culture. It had been around since the…
Introduction By the time Dolly Parton celebrated 50 years at the Grand Ole Opry, she had already spent decades working with nearly every kind of country artist imaginable. So when…
Introduction From 1972 through 1975, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn owned one category at the CMA Awards. For four consecutive years, the Country Music Association named them Vocal Duo of…
Introduction Before the name Conway Twitty meant anything in country music, Harold Lloyd Jenkins had another serious ambition: baseball. Born in Friars Point, Mississippi, in 1933, Jenkins grew up playing…
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