Let’s hop in our metaphorical time machine and take a trip down memory lane.
On June 17, 2019 Clyde Julian Foley was born in Blue Lick, Kentucky. You may better recognize him as Red Foley, the American singer, radio, and television personality. Foley became known as one of the biggest country music stars after World War II. Foley would sell over 25 million records in his career.
Foley was also the host of the first popular country music series on network television. He hosted ‘The Ozark Jubilee’ from 1955 to 1960. Foley passed away on September 19, 1968. Present at the time of his passing was Hank Williams Jr., who would go on to write and record ‘I was with Red Foley (The Night He Passed Away)’. Williams Jr. recorded the song as Luke the Drifter Jr.
On June 17, 1967 country music songwriter Rivers Rutherford was born in Germantown, Tennessee. Rutherford is responsible for writing several country hits that have reached the top of the charts. Those songs include: ‘Ain’t Nothing ’bout You’ by Brooks and Dunn, ‘If You Ever Stop Loving Me’ by Montgomery Gentry, and ‘When I Get Where I’m Going’ by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton. Rutherford would also release his own solo album called ‘Just Another Coaster’.
On June 17, 1992 Billy Ray Cyrus was at number one on the US country music chart, with his breakthrough hit ‘Achy Breaky Heart’. The song was written by Don Von Tress and was originally titled ‘Don’t Tell My Heart’. It was also recorded by The Marcy Brothers in 1991 before becoming a major crossover hit on the pop and country radio charts for Billy Ray. The name of the song was changed to ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ before it peaked at the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It became the first country single to be certified platinum since Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s ‘Islands in the Stream’ in 1983.
Billy Ray has found himself some recent success as well. Featuring on the ultra popular track ‘Old Town Road’, with Lil Nas X.