July 1st: On this day

1954
Born on this day in Ashland, Kentucky, was Keith Whitley, country music singer who charted 19 singles on the Billboard country charts, including five consecutive #1's: "Don't Close Your Eyes", "When You Say Nothing at All", "I'm No Stranger to the Rain", "I Wonder Do You Think of Me" and "It Ain't Nothin'". He died on May 9, 1989, the cause of death was determined to be acute ethanolism (alcohol poisoning).

1955
Patsy Cline made her network television debut on the short-lived television version of the Grand Ole Opry on ABC-TV.

1962
Claude King was at #1 on the Country chart with "Wolverton Mountain." The hit that established his career was a rewrite of the original version by Merle Kilgore, which was based on a real character named Clifton Clowers who lived on the mountain north of Morrilton, Arkansas.

1968
Tammy Wynette released her third studio album D-I-V-O-R-C-E which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, becoming Wynette's first album to top the chart. The album's single, "D-I-V-O-R-C-E", (written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman), was released on April 19, 1968, and peaked at #1 on the Country Singles chart, Wynette's fourth song to top the chart.

1971
Born on this day was American actress and comedian Melissa Peterman best known for her role as Barbra Jean in the television comedy series Reba.

1979
Waylon Jennings was at #1 on the US country charts with "Amanda", a song written by Bob McDill and which was also recorded by Don Williams. Taken from his 1974 album The Ramblin' Man, "Amanda" would be Waylon Jennings's eighth solo #1 on the country chart.

2004
Glen Campbell began serving 10 nights in jail along with two years of probation for a November 2003 drink-driving, hit-and-run collision. The 68 year old entertainer was also sentenced to 75 hours of community service and fined $900.

2013
Charles Carr died aged 79. The Auburn University freshman chauffeured Hank Williams on his last ride from Montgomery to a New Year's Eve show in Charleston and then to another concert scheduled for Jan 1st 1953, in Canton, Ohio. He drove to a nearby hospital, where the singer was pronounced dead.

2015
American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, Red Lane died of cancer in Nashville age 76. His most widely-known songs include, "'Til I Get It Right" (recorded by Tammy Wynette, 1973), "Country Girl" (Dottie West), "The Eagle" (Waylon Jennings, George Strait), "My Own Kind of Hat" (Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson), "Blackjack County Chain" (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings), "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" (George Strait).

2023
Tracy Chapman becomes the first black woman to have a chart-topping country song as a sole writer when Luke Combs' cover of her 1988 hit "Fast Car" reached number one on the Country Airplay chart. It also becomes the first country cover of a pop hit to top the chart since Blake Shelton's cover of Michael Bublé's 2005 single "Home" did so in July 2008.