Congress began hearings to investigate payola in music and radio in 1960. Future Academy of Country Music awards producer Dick Clark survived the scandal. Rock deejay Alan Freed, credited as a co-writer on Sincerely, was destroyed
Jim Reeves went to #1 in Billboard magazine with He’ll Have To Go in 1960. The hit was intended to be the “B” side to a song written by Johnny Russell (In a Mansion Stands My Love) but radio DJs preferred He’ll Have To Go and played it instead.
Waylon Jennings recorded I’m A Ramblin’ Man at Nashville’s RCA Studio B in 1974.
Little Jimmy Dickens returned to the Grand Ole Opry in 1975. He’d left the Opry 18 earlier because he was being sponsored by a company that rivaled an Opry advertiser.
The Charlie Daniels Band recorded Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye at Woodland Sound Studio in Nashville in 1985.
Atlantic released Neal McCoy’s No Doubt About It album in 1994.
President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act in 1996, de-regulating the broadcast industry and setting off a flurry of purchases. It resulted in the consolidation of the radio industry – which means fewer people decide what country songs become hits
The Hank Williams Museum was established in Montgomery, AL in 1999.
Alison Krauss won three times in the 46th annual Grammy Awards at Los Angeles’ Staples Center in 2004. Alison Krauss + Union Station – Live won Best Bluegrass Album, Cluck Old Hen takes Best Country Instrumental Performance, and she shares Best Country Collaboration with James Taylor, for How’s The World Treating You.
Randy Travis was the subject of a 2017 tribute concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Guests included Garth Brooks, Alabama, Chris Janson, Josh Turner, Kenny Rogers, Montgomery Gentry and Jamey Johnson.
