Today In Country Music History

1976   Rest In Peace...Eventually A day after country-rocker Gram Parsons died, his body is stolen during transfer at the Los Angeles International Airport, then taken to Joshua Tree, where it is burned, in accordance with his request.

1996   The King Goes Platonium George Strait saw seven albums achieve platinum or multi-platinum status. George’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 went triple platinum while Ocean Front Property went double platinum and his albums #7, Something Special, Ten Strait Hits and Holding My Own were all certified platinum.

1947  Country Was Going Country Wide New York’s Carnegie Hall hosted its first country concert with Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff as headliners, featuring Minnie Pearl, George D. Hay and Rosalie Allen. Tickets ranged from $1.20-$3.60.

1998  The Legend Immortalized The Country Music Hall of Fame unveils a bronze statue of the late Hank Williams on the 75th anniversary of the singer's birth. At the ceremony are his children, Hank  Jr. and Jett, who meet for the first time.

1946  And Bluegrass Was Born Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs record for the first time with Bill Monroe in Columbia Records' Chicago studio.

2007 Garth Becomes First Artist To Debut At #1 Garth Brooks' "More Than A Memory" becomes the first song to debut at #1 on not only Billboard's country singles list, but on any Billboard chart regardless of genre.

2006  Kenny, I Hardly Knew Ye Actress Renee Zellweger files for an annulment of her marriage to Kenny Chesney in Los Angeles, barely four months after the couple exchanged vows.

2009   Kanye West Deserved A Swift Kick In The.... Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" wins Best Female Video during the MTV Video Music Awards. Rapper Kanye West interrupts her acceptance speech at New York's Radio City Music Hall to insist that Beyonce should have won.

2003  The Man In Black Moves On Johnny Cash dies at Nashville's Baptist Hospital, of complications from diabetes, four months after the death of his wife, June Carter.

2001  As All of America Watched... Early on the morning of September 11, 200, 19 hijackers took control of four commercial airliners (American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight and United Airlines Flight 93) after takeoffs from Boston, Newark and Washington, D.C.

1992  Garth Announces He's Taking A Break...Part 1 Garth Brooks announced he was canceling his world tour to spend time with his family. As his career flourished, Brooks seemed frustrated by the conflicts between career and family life.

1996  And The Waves Of Bluegrass Wept After 56 years on the Grand Ole Opry, Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, dies at the Northcrest Medical Center in Springfield, Tennessee, at the age of 84, five months after suffering a stroke. Acknowledged as the "Father of Bluegrass," he joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1939 and entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970...