![Today In Country Music History [VIDEO]](http://townsquare.media/site/111/files/2014/08/garth_%2540_shea.png?w=980&q=75)
Today In Country Music History [VIDEO]
1997 Garth Brooks And Some Friends Get Together
Garth Brooks gives a free concert in New York's Central Park that's broadcast live on HBO. Billy Joel and Don McLean join the event, with crowd estimates ranging from 200,000 to more than 1 million, as the city observed Garth Brooks Day. The crowd that turned out to hear Garth Brooks in Central Park on this day in 1997 was truly enormous, filling the park's North Meadow to capacity and spilling out into seemingly every available patch of grass and asphalt within earshot of the stage.
But was the crowd really as large as the astonishing figure of 750,000 that was widely claimed in media coverage of the event? Doug Blonsky, former Parks Department administrator and then-president of the Central Park Conservancy told The New York Times, "You would get in a room with the producer, with a police official, and a person from parks, and someone would say, 'What does it look like to you? The producer would say, 'I need it to be higher than the last one.' That's the kind of science that went into it."
The concert led to the Double Live Album, which was released in 1998. The album set a record, breaking the first week album sales mark by selling 1,085,000 copies in its first 7 days, passing Pearl Jam for the top spot. It has been certified 21 times platinum, signifying sales of over 21,000,000 copies, making it the best selling live album of all time. A DVD of the show was also released.
The album was signified 15x platinum on this day in 2002.
2011
Blake Shelton appeared on the cover of Parade magazine, where he came out in favor of gay marriage: “I have a life, and I want everyone else to have one, too.”
His stance, along with his marriage to Miranda Lambert (?) led to an on-line confrontation with the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. In true BS fashion, the native Oklahoman responded by tweeting "Hey WBC.. I've got one more sin for ya... Bite me,"
2007
Vince Gill, Mel Tillis and Ralph Emery are announced by the Country Music Association as the year's Country Music Hall of Fame inductees during a ceremony at the Hall of Fame in Nashville
1996
Randy Travis’ album Always & Forever was certified multi-platinum for sales of 5 million copies. The album featured the singles "Too Gone Too Long", "I Won't Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)", "Forever and Ever, Amen" and "I Told You So", all of which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts.
1991
Willie Nelson sells his Colorado ranch for $803,000 to help pay off back taxes owed to the IRS. Nelson would also produce an album, The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?
The album, featuring only Nelson and his guitar, was released in 1992 to pay Nelson's $16 million tax debt with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The album generated US$3.6 million for the IRS, who requested a further US$9 million from Nelson to satisfy his debts.
It was well received by the critics who delivered positive reviews.
- Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images 1981
Singer B.J. Thomas became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Thomas' induction would coincide with his 39th birthday.
- Hulton Archives/Getty Images
Hulton Archives/Getty Images 1954
One month after his discharge from the U.S. Army, Johnny Cash married Vivian Liberto. They would have a daughter, Roseanne Cash. the pair would divorce in 1966.
- Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Hulton Archive/Getty Images Birthdays
B.J. Thomas (Hugo, OK) is 72
Rodney Crowell is 64
Michael Peterson is 55
Raul Malo (The Mavericks) is 49
songwriter Felice Bryant was born on this date in 1925
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