July 16th: On this day

1915
Born on this day was country music comedian and entertainer Speck Rhodes best known for his appearances on the Porter Wagoner television show. Rhodes died March 19, 2000 age 84.

1930
Jimmie Rodgers recorded "Blue Yodel No. 9" with an uncredited Louis Armstrong on trumpet and his wife Lil Hardin Armstrong on piano. The song was later selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

1964
Country singer Connie Smith recorded her debut single, "Once A Day," at RCA's Studio B in Nashville. Released in August 1964, topping the Billboard country music chart for eight weeks between late 1964 and early 1965. It was the first debut single by a female artist to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs.

1969
Sonny James was at #1 on the US Country singles chart with "Running Bear." Johnny Preston first sang the song in 1959 with background vocals by The Big Bopper and George Jones, who did the "Indian chanting" of "UGO UGO" during the three verses, as well as the "Indian war cries".

1982
The American comedy-drama film Six Pack directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Kenny Rogers was released. In the movie Kenny Rogers plays race car driver Brewster Baker. The film grossed over $20 million during its theatrical run.

1984
Alabama released "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" which went to #1 on the Country charts. The track was the fourteenth in a string of 21 consecutive #1 singles in as many releases, a string that spanned from 1980 through 1987.

1986
Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park opened in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood has over 3,000 people on its payroll, making it the largest employer in the community. In addition to standard amusement park thrill rides, Dollywood features traditional crafts and music of the Smoky Mountains area.

1990
Garth Brooks was at #1 on the US Country charts with, "The Dance". The song, written by Brooks' friend, Tony Arata, was a key track on his self-titled debut album Garth Brooks and is considered by many to be Brooks' signature song.

1996
Billy Ray Cyrus' Some Gave All became the first debut album by a country artist certified for wholesale sales of 9 million copies. The album featured four hit singles on the Billboard country charts, the first of these was Cyrus's breakthrough song "Achy Breaky Heart".

2006
Kenny Chesney set a new record for a country show when his concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, grossed $4 million. The bill also featured Dierks Bentley, Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich and Carrie Underwood.

2012
American country music singer Kitty Wells died in Madison, Tennessee, from complications of a stroke. She was 92. Her 1952 hit "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the US country charts, and turned her into the first female country star. Her Top 10 hits continued until the mid-1960s, inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.

2013
David Traywick the brother of country singer Randy Travis was arrested at his Marshville home along with his wife, Jessica, and two other women after officials said they found a meth lab inside his North Carolina home. In September 2012, Traywick was arrested for cooking meth in a makeshift lab near his home.

2016
American country music singer Bonnie Brown died aged 77. She was a member of the Browns, a trio popular in the 1950s. Signed by RCA Victor in 1956, the trio scored their biggest hit with their folk-pop single "The Three Bells". In 1965, the Browns joined the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

2019
Luke Combs was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. His music has earned him three Grammy Award nominations, two iHeart Radio music awards, four Academy of Country Music Awards and six Country Music Association Awards, including the 2021 and 2022 Entertainer of the Year award, their highest honor.

2020
American rock music, blues rock and country music drummer Jamie Oldaker died age 68. Oldaker recorded with musicians such as the Bellamy Brothers, Asleep at the Wheel, Vince Gill, J. J. Cale and Willie Nelson.