February 17th: On this day

1931
Uncle Jimmy Thompson died of pneumonia. He was an American old-time fiddle player and singer-songwriter best remembered as the first performer to play on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (then called the WSM Barn Dance), appearing with founder and host George D. Hay on the evening of November 28, 1925. His cantankerous and eccentric personality and his fiddle skills have made him one of the best-known icons of early country music.

1935
Born on this day in Houston, Texas, was Johnny Bush, country music singer, songwriter, and drummer. Bush, nicknamed the "Country Caruso," is best known for his distinctive voice and as the writer of "Whiskey River," a top-ten hit for himself and Willie Nelson's signature song. Bush died at a hospital in San Antonio on October 16, 2020 age 85.

1938
Born on this day in Spartanburg, South Carolina, was Buck Trent, country music instrumentalist who invented the electric banjo. He was a member of Porter Wagoner's "Wagon Masters" from 1962 to 1973. He played on Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' and 'Jolene'. Trent died on October 9, 2023, at the age of 85.

1965
"The Tennessee Waltz" was declared the state song of Tennessee. Written by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King the song was first released in 1947 by Cowboy Copas. The song also became a multimillion seller in 1950 by Patti Page.

1969
After having spent three days recording tracks for his forthcoming Nashville Skyline album, Bob Dylan was joined by Johnny Cash, and the pair recorded "Girl From The North Country" together, which was also included on the album. The song was written following his first trip to England in December, 1962. It has been a matter of debate as to which, if any, of Dylan's former girflriends inspired the song: Echo Helstrom, Bonnie Beecher or Suze Rotolo.

1969
Born on this day in Dallas, Texas was country music singer, songwriter, Jon Randall. He co-wrote the song "Whiskey Lullaby", which became a Top 5 hit when Brad Paisley recorded it as a duet with Alison Krauss.

1974
Born on this day in Lawton, Oklahoma, was Bryan White country singer, songwriter. His fourth album, 1999's How Lucky I Am, produced 2 Top 40 hits with singles, "You're Still Beautiful To Me," and, "God Gave Me You." White has charted seventeen singles on the Billboard country charts, of which six reached #1.

1975
Dolly Parton released her fifteenth solo studio album The Bargain Store. The Parton-penned title track, one of her best-known compositions, she used worn, second-hand merchandise in a discount store as a metaphor for a woman damaged by an ill-fated relationship. The song was dropped from a number of country stations' playlists when programmers mistook the line "you can easily afford the price" as a thinly veiled reference to prostitution. Despite the decrease in airplay, the song nonetheless topped the U.S. country singles charts in April 1975.

1998
The Nashville Network premiered a group of television specials called The George Jones Show, with Jones as host. The program featured informal chats with Jones holding court with country's biggest stars old and new. Guests included Loretta Lynn, Trace Adkins, Johnny Paycheck, Lorrie Morgan, Merle Haggard, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Charley Pride, Bobby Bare, Patty Loveless and Waylon Jennings, among others.

2001
Brad Paisley was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. He was 28 years old when he accepted the invitation, becoming the youngest member ever to join.

2007
Hank Williams, Jr. filed for divorce from his fourth wife, Mary Jane, whom he married in 1990.

2013
Mindy McCready was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on her front porch after neighbors called the Sheriff's Office of Cleburne County, Arkansas. The front porch was the same place where David Wilson, her former boyfriend and the father of her youngest son, had fatally shot himself one month prior, she was 37 years old. McCready's first four studio albums yielded twelve singles on the Billboard country singles charts.

2023
American country music songwriter Kyle Jacobs died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Nashville, Tennessee. Jacobs was the co-writer on Garth Brooks' single, "More Than a Memory", which became the first song to debut at #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart. He was also a staff writer for Curb Music from 2003 until his death.