A Country Legend Passes - Today In Country Music History

November 23, 1992

Roy Acuff dies from congestive heart failure in Nashville and is buried within eight hours. A Grand Ole Opry symbol for over 50 years, the "King Of Country Music" was the first living member inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Acuff began his music career in the 1930s, and gained regional fame as the singer and fiddler for his group, the Smoky Mountain Boys. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1938, and although his popularity as a musician waned in the late 1940s, he remained one of the Opry's key figures and promoters for nearly four decades. In 1942, Acuff co-founded the first major Nashville-based country music publishing company—Acuff-Rose Music—which signed acts such as Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, and The Everly Brothers. In 1962, Acuff became the first living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Next: Acuff And Ernest Tubb Headline Radio City Music Hall

photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
1996
Trace Adkins makes his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. After singing "Every Light In The House." He drops to one knee, calls out girlfriend Rhonda Forlaw and asks her to marry him. She says yes
photo by William Lovelace/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
photo by William Lovelace/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1967
Jack Greene becomes the first country star to appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York
#1 On This Date
SINGLES
2013 – Keith Urban w/Miranda Lambert – “We Were Us”
2002 – Keith Urban – “Somebody Like You”
1996 – Deana Carter – “Strawberry Wine”
1991 – Garth Brooks – “Shameless”
1985 – Gary Morris – “I’ll Never Stop Loving You”
1974 – Loretta Lynn – “Trouble In Paradise”
1968 – Tammy Wynette – “Stand By Your Man”
1963 – Buck Owens – “Love’s Gonna Live Here”
1959 – Faron Young – “Counrty Girl”
1946 – Merle Travis – “Divorce Me C.O.D.”

ALBUMS
2013 – The Robertsons – Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas
2002 – Faith Hill – Cry
1996 – Alan Jackson – Everything I Love
1991 – Garth Brooks – Ropin’ The Wind
1985 – Ronnie Milsap – Greatest Hits Vol. 2
1974 – John Denver – Back Home Again
1968 – Jeannie C. Riley – Harper Valley P.T.A.
Birthdays
Destiny Hope Cyrus is 22. You know her better as Miley.

A Country Legend Passes – Today In Country Music History [VIDEO]