2007 in Country Music - Events

Events

• February 11 — It was a big night for country music artists at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, as they swept the awards in four top categories. The Dixie Chicks won three of those awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year (both for "Not Ready to Make Nice," the latter shared with songwriter Dan Wilson) and Album of the Year (Taking the Long Way). Carrie Underwood took the Best New Artist Award.

Both Underwood and the Dixie Chicks were winners in country-specific categories. The Dixie Chicks won for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (for "Not Ready to Make Nice") and Best Country Album ("Taking the Long Way"). Underwood won for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Jesus, Take the Wheel"; the song also earned a Best Country Song award for songwriters Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson.

Also, country music pioneer Bob Wills - the longtime leader of the Texas Playboys - was a posthumous recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Wills was recognized 32 years after his death.

• Week of February 12 — Country music stars team with celebrities during a special celebrity week of Wheel of Fortune, which was taped in Charleston, South Carolina. During the game aired February 13, Julie Roberts and contestant partner Peter Buccellato won $124,250 after Buccallato solved the bonus round puzzle for the show's grand prize of $100,000. Roberts donated a matching amount to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
• February 17 — Hank Williams, Jr. filed for divorce from his fourth wife, Mary Jane, whom he married in 1990.
• March 19 — Days after an announcement that Lonestar had parted ways with longtime record label BNA Records, lead singer Richie McDonald announces plans to depart the group at the end of the year, in search of a solo career.
• March 19 — Professional dancer and country music star-to-be Julianne Hough makes her debut on Dancing with the Stars, a televised dance promotion. Teamed with Olympic gold medal-winning speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, Hough will go on to win the championship for Season 4. Hough will return in the fall to win a second title, this time with two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves.
• April 10 — The house where the music video for Johnny Cash's "Hurt" was shot is destroyed by fire.
• May 10 — Country music superstar Trisha Yearwood announces she is leaving MCA Records where she had been for 16 years with over 12 million albums sold and 5 number 1 singles. She announced she was signing with Big Machine Records. Yearwood and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta met in her intern days at MTM records. Trisha's last top 10 hit with MCA was "I Would've Loved You Anyway" in 2001.
• September 4 — Sammy Kershaw enters the Louisiana lieutenant governor's race, running as a Republican.
• September 15 — Garth Brooks' song, "More Than a Memory" becomes the first song to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Songs chart, since the start of the magazine's all-encompassing country chart in 1958.
• October 21 — Country music legend Porter Wagoner's publicist Darlene Bieber confirms that Wagoner had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Wagoner dies seven days later.
• October 30 — The Eagles release their studio album Long Road Out of Eden, their first compilation of all-new material in 28 years. The album sells over a million copies in its first two weeks.