May 7th: On this day

1931
Born on this day in Loyall, Kentucky was country music songwriter Jerry Chestnut. His hits include "Good Year for the Roses" (recorded by Alan Jackson, George Jones and Elvis Costello) and "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" (recorded by Elvis Presley in 1975, and Travis Tritt in 1992.) Chesnut died in Nashville on December 15, 2018 at the age of 87.

1953
Born on this day in Gainesville, Georgia was country music songwriter John Jarrard. He wrote songs for Alabama, George Strait, Don Williams, and others. Jarred died on February 1, 2001 of respiratory failure.

1966
Johnny Cash kicked off his first ever UK tour at the Empire in Liverpool, with The Statler Brothers opening the show, followed by June Carter.

1969
Bob Dylan's album Nashville Skyline was certified gold by the RIAA. It contains "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," cited in the Country Music Foundation's "Heartaches By The Number" among country's 500 all-time greatest singles.

1970
Merle Haggard was at #1 on the Country music album chart with Okie from Muskogee. The album won the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year in 1969. Haggard also won Single of the Year for "Okie from Muskogee" as well as Top Male Vocalist.

1970
Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed record the Grammy-nominated album Me And Jerry in a single day at Nashville's RCA Studio B. Among the songs recorded were: "MacArthur Park," "Tennessee Stud," "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Something".

1973
Charlie Rich was at #1 on the US Country singles chart with "Behind Closed Doors". The single became Rich's first #1 hit on the country charts, and also became a crossover hit on the pop charts. "Behind Closed Doors" earned awards for Song of the Year and Single of the Year from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and Rich also received a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. In 2003, it ranked #9 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

1987
Randy Travis was at #1 on the Country chart with second album Always & Forever. The singles "Too Gone Too Long", "I Won't Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)", "Forever and Ever, Amen" and "I Told You So", from the album all reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

1994
Clint Black was at #1 on the Billboard country chart with "A Good Run Of Bad Luck", the fourth single from his 1993 album No Time to Kill.

2002
O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack was certified for shipments of 6 million. The soundtrack features: Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, The Soggy Bottom Boys, The Whites, John Hartford, Ralph Stanley, and The Cox Family.

2005
Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg, West Virginia awarded and presented Dwight Yoakam with an honorary doctorate degree. Yoakam briefly attended Ohio State University, but dropped out and moved to Nashville in 1977.

2020
Luke Combs was at #1 on the country album charts with his second studio album What You See Is What You Get. This was the fifth time the album had reached the top of the charts since its release in November 2019. The album returned to the #1 position another 6 times during 2020.

2022
Mickey Gille died of complications from bone cancer. The American country music singer and musician was the cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl McVoy, Jim Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart. Among his biggest hits is "Room Full of Roses," "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time," and the remake of the Soul hit "Stand by Me".

2022
American country music singer and musician Mickey Gilley died of complications from bone cancer. Among his biggest hits are "Room Full of Roses," "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time," and the remake of the Soul hit "Stand by Me". Gilley had 17 #1 country hits