On This Day in Country Music History: July 9th

LeAnn Rimes Debuts with a Classic

A 13-year old LeAnn Rimes released her first album, Blue, which immediately made a huge impact. Blue would reach #1 on the Top Country Albums charts and spawned a handful of hits, including the title track, "Hurt Me", and "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)". All of this was too much to ignore by some, because with a voice that was beyond her years, directly comparable to Patsy Cline, she ushered in the next generation of talent to Nashville.

Carrie Underwood Took Everyone Aback

In 2012, Carrie Underwood released the title track "Blown Away" off of her fourth studio album. The song had a monster impact; hitting #1 on the Country charts, while also marking her 16th top-ten on the Country Airplay chart—which set a record for any woman, in the history of the chart. The song was dramatic, with the storytelling and the melody. As an American Idol winner, Underwood was not just a flash in the pan, she was also a force in country music.

Luke Bryan Shook The Boat

In 2015, Luke Bryan made waves in country music. During an interview with the good folks over at Hits Double Daily, he was asked about his fourth studio album Kill The Lights and he spewed some hogwash about outlaw country legends Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson spending their entire careers "laying in the gutter, strung out on drugs." Lip service from a fan is one thing, but for an artist to accuse the founding fathers of country music like that was too much to handle from fans and artists. Bryan later apologized by saying he respected the pioneers that paved the way for him—but it opened up a can of worms in discussing what it is to be a "real" country singer.

Morgan Wallen Made History On The Billboard Charts

On this day in 2023, Morgan Wallen's third studio album, One Thing at a Time, was the number one album in the US Country charts. A bit of a regular number one? Not in the least true, it was a historic number one. By the end of the year, One Thing at a Time was named as Billboard's Number One album for 2023; add that to Wallen's smash hit "Last Night" landing as the year-end Hot 100, and Wallen was the first country artist to ever hold the top; year-end spots for both album and single. Regardless of feeling about him, that is a huge accomplishment.