MAY 25
1893: Ernest “Pop” Stoneman was born in Monarat, VA. Among country music’s first successful recording artists in the 1920s, he later built a band, The Stoneman Family and entered the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1936: Singer/songwriter Tom T. Hall was born in Olive Hill, KY. Nicknamed “The Storyteller,” he earned a string of plot-thick hits and wrote titles such as “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and “Little Bitty” en route to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1943: Mirriam Johnson was born in Phoenix. She’s better known as Jessi Colter, the wife of Waylon Jennings and the singer of “I’m Not Lisa.”
1951: Marty Robbins signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in Phoenix. He remained with the company for most of the next 31 years, racking up such classics as “El Paso,” “Devil Woman” and “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife.”
1982: George Jones was placed under arrest by a Brentwood, TN police officer for drunk driving. The incident was taped by a Nashville TV crew.
1999: Nearly 70,000 readers of “Country Weekly” magazine chose George Strait as favorite entertainer, favorite male artist and favorite video entertainer while voting for the publication’s annual Golden Pick Awards. He also took honors for favorite album, favorite song and favorite line dance song.
2001: Brooks and Dunn’s single, “Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You” became the longest-running number-one hit of their career with its fifth week at the top of Radio & Records’ Country Top 50 chart.
2002: Alan Jackson started a four-week ride at #1 in Billboard with “Drive (For Daddy Gene)“
2005: Garth Brooks proposed to Trisha Yearwood on one knee in front of more than 7,000 fans at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, CA. Spoiler Alert – she said yes.
2011: Scotty McCreery won FOX’s “American Idol,” singing “Live Like You Were Dying” on the episode with Tim McGraw. Runner-up Lauren Alaina duetted with Carrie Underwood on “Before He Cheats.”
2014: Brad Paisley made a surprise Memorial Day weekend appearance at Bagram AirField in Afghanistan, performing for 3,000 U.S. troops before president Barack Obama delivered a speech. Paisley’s set included “Southern Comfort Zone,” “This Is Country Music,” “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)” and “Alcohol.”