2007 in country music

 

See also: 2006 in country music, 2007 in music, other events of 2007, 2008 in country music and the List of years in Country Music

Events

• February 11 - It was a big night for country music artists at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, as they swept the awards in four top categories. The Dixie Chicks won three of those awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year (both for "Not Ready to Make Nice," the latter shared with songwriter Dan Wilson) and Album of the Year (Taking the Long Way). Carrie Underwood took the Best New Artist Award.

Both Underwood and the Dixie Chicks were winners in country-specific categories. The Dixie Chicks won for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (for "Not Ready to Make Nice") and Best Country Album ("Taking the Long Way"). Underwood won for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Jesus, Take the Wheel"; the song also earned a Best Country Song award for songwriters Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson.

Also, country music pioneer Bob Wills - the longtime leader of the Texas Playboys - was a posthumous recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Wills was recognized 32 years after his death.

• Week of February 12 — Country music stars team with celebrities during a special celebrity week of Wheel of Fortune, which was taped in Charleston, South Carolina. During the game aired February 13, Julie Roberts and contestant partner Peter Buccellato won $124,250 after Buccallato solved the bonus round puzzle for the show's grand prize of $100,000. Roberts donated a matching amount to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
• February 17 - Hank Williams, Jr. filed for divorce from his fourth wife, Mary Jane, whom he married in 1990.
• March 19 – Days after an announcement that Lonestar had parted ways with longtime record label BNA Records, lead singer Richie McDonald announces plans to depart the group at the end of the year, in search of a solo career. [1]
• April 10 – The house where the music video for Johnny Cash's "Hurt" was shot is destroyed by fire. ^[1]
• September 4 – Sammy Kershaw enters the Louisiana lieutenant governor's race, running as a Republican.^[2]
• September 15 – Garth Brooks' song, "More Than a Memory" becomes the first song to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Songs chart, since the start of the magazine's all-encompassing country chart in 1958.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

Date	Song Name	Artist	Wks. No. 1	Spec. Note
January 6	She's Everything	Brad Paisley	3
January 27	Watching You	Rodney Atkins	4
February 24	It Just Comes Natural	George Strait	2
March 10	Ladies Love Country Boys	Trace Adkins	2	Adkins' first #1 since "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing" in 1997.
March 24	Beer In Mexico	Kenny Chesney	3	Chesney's first #1 single that he wrote himself.
April 14	Last Dollar (Fly Away)	Tim McGraw	1
April 21	Wasted	Carrie Underwood	3
May 12	Stand	Rascal Flatts	1
May 19	Settlin'	Sugarland	1
May 26	Good Directions	Billy Currington	3
June 16	Moments	Emerson Drive	1	A With this song, Emerson Drive became the first Canadian-based group to reach the top of the Billboard country charts, as well as the fifth Canadian-based country music act to do so.
June 23	Find Out Who Your Friends Are	Tracy Lawrence	1	Tracy's first No. 1 single since "Time Marches On" in 1996. It has also set a new record for the slowest climb to No. 1 on the country charts, taking 41 weeks to reach the top. The song's chart success was greatly aided by stations playing an album cut featuring Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney.
June 30	Ticks	Brad Paisley	1
July 7	Lucky Man	Montgomery Gentry	2
July 21	Lost In This Moment	Big & Rich	2	A
August 4	Never Wanted Nothing More	Kenny Chesney	5	Chesney's fastest-climbing Number One single to date, reaching Number One in its eighth chart week.
September 8	These Are My People	Rodney Atkins	1
September 15	More Than a Memory	Garth Brooks	1	Became the first song in the history of the Billboard country charts to debut at No. 1. Brooks' first Billboard Number One since "To Make You Feel My Love" in 1998.
September 22	Take Me There	Rascal Flatts	3
October 13	Online	Brad Paisley	1
October 20	Love Me If You Can	Toby Keith	1	This is the first Billboard Number One for Toby's label, Show Dog Nashville.
October 27	Don't Blink	Kenny Chesney	1	Current No. 1 song. Also reached No. 1 in its eighth chart week, tying Chesney's record for fastest climb to the top.

• ^A - First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.

Other major hits

• "All My Friends Say" - Luke Bryan (#5)
• "Alyssa Lies" – Jason Michael Carroll (#5)
• "Amarillo Sky" – Jason Aldean (#4)
• "Another Side of You" - Joe Nichols
• "Anyway" - Martina McBride (#5)
• "As If" - Sara Evans
• "Because of You" - Reba McEntire with Kelly Clarkson (#2)
• "Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace" - Big & Rich
• "A Different World" - Bucky Covington (#6)
• "Dixie Lullaby" — Pat Green (#24)
• "Don't Make Me" – Blake Shelton (#12)
• "Everybody" - Keith Urban
• "Everyday America" — Sugarland (#9)
• "Fall" — Clay Walker
• "Famous in a Small Town" - Miranda Lambert
• "A Feelin' Like That" - Gary Allan (#12)
• "Firecracker" - Josh Turner
• "'Fore She Was Mama" - Clay Walker (#21)
• "Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go)" - Dierks Bentley
• "Good As Gone" - Little Big Town (#18)
• "Guys Like Me" - Eric Church (#17)
• "Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love" - Trisha Yearwood
• "High Maintenance Woman" — Toby Keith (#3)
• "Hillbilly Deluxe" - Brooks & Dunn (#16)
• "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls" - George Strait
• "How I Feel" - Martina McBride (#15)
• "How Long" - Eagles
• "I Got More" - Cole Deggs & The Lonesome (#25)
• "I Just Came Back From a War" – Darryl Worley (#18)
• "I Need You" - Tim McGraw with Faith Hill (#8)
• "I Told You So" - Keith Urban (#2)
• "I Wanna Feel Something" - Trace Adkins (#25)
• "I Wonder" - Kellie Pickler (#14)
• "If You're Reading This" - Tim McGraw
• "I'll Wait for You" – Joe Nichols (#7)
• "Johnny Cash" - Jason Aldean (#6)
• "Just Might Have Her Radio On" - Trent Tomlinson (#21)
• "Laughed Until We Cried" - Jason Aldean
• "Lips of an Angel" - Jack Ingram (#16)
• "Little Bit of Life" – Craig Morgan (#7)
• "A Little More You" - Little Big Town (#20)
• "Livin' Our Love Song" - Jason Michael Carroll
• "Long Trip Alone" — Dierks Bentley (#10)
• "Lost" — Faith Hill (#32)
• "Me and God" - Josh Turner with Ralph Stanley (#16)
• "Measure of a Man" — Jack Ingram (#18)
• "Missing You" - Alison Krauss with John Waite (#34)
• "My, Oh My" – The Wreckers (#9)
• "Nothin' Better to Do" - LeAnn Rimes
• "Our Song" - Taylor Swift
• "Proud of the House We Built" — Brooks & Dunn (#4)
• "Ready, Set, Don't Go" - Billy Ray Cyrus with Miley Cyrus
• "Red High Heels" – Kellie Pickler (#15)
• "Red Umbrella" - Faith Hill
• "So Small" - Carrie Underwood
• "Startin' With Me" - Jake Owen (#6)
• "Stay" - Sugarland
• "Stealing Cinderella" - Chuck Wicks
• "Stupid Boy" - Keith Urban (#3)
• "Teardrops on My Guitar" - Taylor Swift (#2)
• "Tough" - Craig Morgan (#11)
• "Watching Airplanes" - Gary Allan
• "What Do Ya Think About That" - Montgomery Gentry
• "A Woman's Love" - Alan Jackson (#5)
• "Wrapped" — George Strait (#2)
• "You Still Own Me" - Emerson Drive
• "(You Want to) Make a Memory" - Bon Jovi (#35)
• "You'll Always Be My Baby" — Sara Evans (#13)

Top new album releases

• 5th Gear — Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
• Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace — Big & Rich (Warner Bros. Nashville)
• Big Dog Daddy — Toby Keith (Show Dog Nashville)
• Bucky Covington — Bucky Covington (Lyric Street)
• A Classic Christmas — Toby Keith (Show Dog Nashville)
• Cowboy Town — Brooks & Dunn (Arista Nashville)
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — Miranda Lambert (Columbia Records)
• Fall — Clay Walker (Asylum-Curb)
• Family — LeAnn Rimes (Asylum-Curb)
• For the Love — Tracy Lawrence (Rocky Comfort)
• Greatest Hits — Gary Allan (MCA Nashville)
• Greatest Hits — Sara Evans (RCA)
• Greatest Hits — Trisha Yearwood (MCA Nashville)
• The Hits — Faith Hill (Warner Brothers)
• Home at Last — Billy Ray Cyrus (Walt Disney Records)
• A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection — Alison Krauss (Rounder Records)
• I'll Stay Me — Luke Bryan (Capitol Nashville)
• Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates — Kenny Chesney (BNA Records)
• Last of the Breed — Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price (Lost Highway)
• Let It Go — Tim McGraw (Curb Records)
• Live at Texas Stadium — Alan Jackson, George Strait and Jimmy Buffett (MCA Nashville)
• Morning Constitutions — Larry the Cable Guy (Warner Brothers)
• One of the Boys — Gretchen Wilson (Columbia Records)
• Pure BS — Blake Shelton (Warner Brothers)
• Real Things — Joe Nichols (Universal South)
• Reba: Duets — Reba McEntire (MCA Nashville)
• Relentless — Jason Aldean (Broken Bow)
• Songs of Inspiration II — Alabama (RCA Nashville)
• Still Feels Good — Rascal Flatts (Lyric Street)
• The Storm — Travis Tritt (Category 5)
• This Is It — Jack Ingram (Big Machine)
• Totally Country Vol. 6 — Various Artists (Sony-BMG)
• Waitin' in the Country — Jason Michael Carroll (Arista Nashville)
• Waking Up Laughing — Martina McBride (RCA Nashville)

Announced

• 22 More Hits — George Strait (MCA Nashville) (release date 11/13/07)
• Carnival Ride — Carrie Underwood (Arista Nashville) (release date 10/23/07)
• Dwight Sings Buck — Dwight Yoakam (New West) (release date 10/23/07)
• Everything Is Fine — Josh Turner (MCA Nashville) (release date 10/30/07)
• Game On — Trace Adkins (Capitol) (release date 12/4/07)
• Greatest Hits — Keith Urban (Capitol) (release date 11/20/07)
• Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love — Trisha Yearwood (Big Machine) (release date 11/13/07)
• It's Good to Be Back — Chris Cagle (Capitol) (release date 12/4/07)
• Living Hard — Gary Allan (MCA Nashville) (release date 10/23/07)
• Long Road Out of Eden — The Eagles (release date 10/30/07)
• A Place to Land — Little Big Town (Equity) (release date 11/6/07)
• Raising Sand — Alison Krauss & Robert Plant (Rounder) (release date 10/23/07)
• The Ultimate Hits — Garth Brooks (Pearl) (release date 11/6/07)

Other top albums

• 15° Off Cool — Bill Engvall (Jack Records)
• After Hours — Raul Malo (Sanctuary)
• Beverley Mitchell — Beverley Mitchell (Daywind)
• Big Love in a Small Town — Sarah Johns (BNA)
• Black in the Saddle — Cowboy Troy (RAYBAW)
• The Bluegrass Sessions — Merle Haggard (McCoury)
• Boogity, Boogity - A Tribute to the Comedic Genius of Ray Stevens — Cledus T. Judd (Curb)
• Bring It On — Kevin Fowler (Equity)
• The Calling — Mary Chapin Carpenter (Zoë)
• The Chain — Deana Carter (Vanguard)
• Charlie Louvin — Charlie Louvin (Tompkins Square)
• Cole Deggs & The Lonesome — Cole Deggs & The Lonesome (Columbia Records)
• Deuces — Charlie Daniels (Blue Hat)
• Easy Money — John Anderson (RAYBAW)
• Flynnville Train — Flynnville Train (Show Dog)
• Halfway to Hazard — Halfway to Hazard (Mercury)
• King of the Mountains — Rodney Carrington (Capitol Nashville)
• Live from Iraq — Charlie Daniels (Blue Hat)
• The Love Songs — Clint Black (Equity Music Group)
• My Kind of Country — Van Zant (Columbia)
• Right About Now — Ty Herndon (Titan Pyramid)
• Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems — Emmylou Harris (Rhino)
• Straight from the Heart — Daryle Singletary (Shanachie)
• Translated from Love — Kelly Willis (Rykodisc)
• Unglamorous — Lori McKenna (Warner Bros.)
• The Very Best of Tracy Lawrence — Tracy Lawrence (Rhino)
• The Very Best of Travis Tritt — Travis Tritt (Rhino)
• Wagonmaster — Porter Wagoner (Anti)
• Washington Square Serenade — Steve Earle (New West)
• Whiskey Falls — Whiskey Falls (Midas)

Deaths

• January 1 – Del Reeves, 74, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty-type songs (e.g., "Girl on the Billboard"). (emphysema)
• January 6 – Sneaky Pete Kleinow, 72, pedal steel guitarist for the Flying Burrito Brothers. (complications from Alzheimer's disease)
• January 13 – Doyle Holly, 70, member of Buck Owens' Buckaroos; he also had a string of minor hits in the early- to mid-1970s. (prostate cancer)
• February 2 – Terry McMillan, 53, veteran Nashville session harmonica player and percussionist. (natural causes)
• March 24 – Henson Cargill, 66, country performer best known for 1968 smash "Skip A Rope." (surgical complications)
• April 17 – Glenn Sutton, 69, songwriter and producer best known for the hit "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden"; a chief architect of the countrypolitan sound of the late 1960s/early 1970s. (heart attack)
• July 3 – Boots Randolph, 80, member of Nashville's famed "A team" of musicians; he was the saxophonist (subdural hematoma) [2]
• September 25 – Patrick Bourque, 29, bass guitarist of Emerson Drive. (suicide)

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Ralph Emery (born 1933), disc jockey and television host from the 1960s onward.
• Vince Gill (born 1957), singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence in the 1980s.
• Mel Tillis (born 1932), singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1950s.

Major Awards

Grammy awards

(Presented February 11 in Los Angeles) [3]

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance -- "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Carrie Underwood
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance -- "The Reason Why," Vince Gill
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal -- "Not Ready to Make Nice," Dixie Chicks
• Best Country Collaboration with Vocals -- "Who Says You Can't Go Home," Bon Jovi with Jennifer Nettles
• Best Country Instrumental Performance -- "Whiskey Before Breakfast," Bryan Sutton and Doc Watson
• Best Country Song -- "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson
• Best Country Album -- Taking the Long Way, Dixie Chicks
• Best Bluegrass Album -- Instrumentals, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

CMT Music Awards

(Presented April 16 in Nashville) [4]

• Video of the Year -- "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
• Group Video of the Year -- "What Hurts the Most," Rascal Flatts
• Male Video of the Year -- "You Save Me," Kenny Chesney
• Wide Open Country Video of the Year -- "Love You," Jack Ingram
• Johnny Cash Visionary Award -- Kris Kristofferson
• Female Video of the Year -- "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
• Video Director of the Year -- "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood (Director: Roman White)
• Duo Video of the Year -- "Want To," Sugarland
• Breakthrough Video of the Year -- "Tim McGraw," Taylor Swift

Academy of Country Music

(Presented May 15 in Las Vegas) [5]

• Entertainer of the Year -- Kenny Chesney
• Song of the Year -- "Give It Away," Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon and Jamey Johnson
• Single of the Year -- "Give It Away," George Strait
• Album of the Year -- Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
• Top Male Vocalist -- Brad Paisley
• Top Female Vocalist -- Carrie Underwood
• Top Vocal Duo -- Brooks & Dunn
• Top Vocal Group -- Rascal Flatts
• Top New Male Vocalist -- Rodney Atkins
• Top New Female Vocalist -- Miranda Lambert
• Top New Duo or Group -- Little Big Town
• Video of the Year -- "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood (Director: Roman White)
• Vocal Event of the Year -- "Building Bridges," Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill and Sheryl Crow
• ACM/Home Depot Humanitarian of the Year -- Brooks & Dunn
• Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award -- Dolly Parton, Don Williams and the late Harlan Howard and Waylon Jennings
• Jim Reeves International Award -- Buck Owens
• Max Boren Axton Award -- Jack Lameier

Country Music Association

(To be presented November 7 in Nashville)

Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.

References

Other links

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

External links

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