March 21st: On this day

1977
Glen Campbell was at #1 on the US Country chart with "Southern Nights", a song written by Allen Toussaint and the first single released from Campbell's 1977 album, Southern Nights. The lyrics were inspired by childhood memories of Allen Toussaint, who had of visiting relatives in the Louisiana backwoods which often entailed storytelling under star-filled nighttime skies.

1981
"Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" gave Willie Nelson his seventh #1 on the country chart. The song is commonly believed to have been written about a friend of Nelson's who was a Hells Angel, who died in a motorcycle crash.

1988
Winners at the 23rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards hosted by Reba McEntire and Hank Williams Jr. included: Pioneer Award - Roger Miller, Top Female Vocalist of the Year - Reba McEntire, Top Male Vocalist of the Year - Randy Travis, Top Vocal Group - Highway 101, Top New Female Vocalist of the Year - K.T. Oslin, Top New Male Vocalist of the Year - Ricky Van Shelton and Song of the Year went to Randy Travis for "On The Other Hand."

1991
American inventor and founder of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Leo Fender died of complications from Parkinson's disease. The Fender Telecaster became important in country music in ‘The Bakersfield Sound’ in the 1960s, and the emerging Outlaw scene. The Bakersfield Sound made the Fender Telecaster cool.

1993
Billy Ray Cyrus was at #1 on the US Country album charts with his debut album Some Gave All. It produced four hit singles on the Billboard country charts, the first of these was Cyrus's breakthrough song "Achy Breaky Heart." The album is the longest time spent by a debut artist at #1 with 17 consecutive weeks on the chart.

2005
Rascal Flatts released "Fast Cars and Freedom" which became their fourth #1 single on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

2007
Dixie Chicks were at #1 on the US country chart with their seventh studio album Taking the Long Way. With over 2 million copies sold in the US, it won 5 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

2015
Jason Aldean married former American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr. The pair made their first public appearance as a couple at the 2014 CMT Awards and announced their engagement in September 2014.

2020
Due to COVID-19, The Grand Ole Opry announced it would continue hosting performances, but without a live audience attending in the Ryman auditorium.

2023
Every track, all 36 of them from Morgan Wallen's album One Thing at a Time was in the Billboard Hot 100, breaking Drake's record of 27 set in 2017. Wallen's song 'Last Night claimed the top spot. With 19 weeks at #1 it is the longest-running #1 country album of all time on the chart.