1980 in country music

1 Events
- 1.1 Country music goes Hollywood
2 Top hits of the year
- 2.1 Number one hits
- 2.2 Other major hits
3 Top new album releases
- 3.1 Other top albums
4 Births
5 Deaths
6 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees
7 Major Awards
8 Further reading
9 Other links
10 External links

Events

January 25 – At age 84, octogenerian comedian George Burns becomes by far the oldest performer (to that time) to have a single in the top 40 of Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart with "I Wish I Was 18 Again." The song peaks at No. 15 in March.
March 2, 1980 The Public Broadcasting Company (PBS) telecasts the Grand Ole Opry for the third time, and this telecast lasts longer than any of the other telecasts (until well after 1 am CDT!). The telecast featured Tom T. Hall, Ronnie Milsap, Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, Minnie Pearl, Porter Wagoner, Billy Grammer, George Hamilton IV, Marty Robbins, and many others. Sissy Spacek also appeared on this telecast with Loretta Lynn, promoting the new movie Coal Miner's Daughter, which opened the next week.
March – Alabama, a southern rock-influenced band from Fort Payne, Alabama, signs a recording contract with RCA Records, and records its first album, My Home's in Alabama. The album is released in May, and by late in the year, the band was on its way to superstardom.
April 19 - For the first time in chart history, the top 5 positions on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart are held (or co-held) by female artists. The list:

"It's Like We Never Said Goodbye" by Crystal Gayle
"A Lesson in Leaving" by Dottie West
"Are You On The Road To Lovin' Me Again" by Debby Boone
"Beneath Still Waters" by Emmylou Harris
"Two Story House" by Tammy Wynette (Duet with George Jones)

July 5 - George Jones' classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today" reaches #1 on the Billboard Country Music charts.
November 18 – The country-variety TV series, Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, debuts. [1]

Country music goes Hollywood

Country music had a major impact on the motion picture industry throughout the year, with no less than four major box office hits released during the year:
- March 7 – Coal Miner's Daughter, the biography of Loretta Lynn told in film, opens. Sissy Spacek wins that year's Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Lynn; Tommy Lee Jones and Beverly D'Angelo also play leading roles. The movie is a huge success with critics and at the box office, and briefly sparks Spacek's singing career.
- June 6 – The movie Urban Cowboy, starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, opens in American theaters. The movie — which showcases Mickey Gilley's nightclub, Gilley's — is a huge success at the box office ($54 million), and its soundtrack includes several major hits and makes stars out of several of the artists (most notably Johnny Lee), and will have a major impact on the direction of country music of the early 1980s.
- July 18 – Honeysuckle Rose, starring Willie Nelson, opens.
- December 19 – Nine to Five — with Dolly Parton in one of the leading roles — opens.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

January 5 – "Coward of the County" – Kenny Rogers
January 26 – "I'll Be Coming Back For More" – T.G. Sheppard
February 9 – "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" – Oak Ridge Boys
February 16 – "Love Me Over Again" – Don Williams
February 23 – "Years" – Barbara Mandrell
March 1 – "Ain't Livin' Long Like This" – Waylon Jennings
March 8 – "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" – Willie Nelson
March 22 – "Why Don't You Spend the Night" – Ronnie Milsap
March 29 – "I'd Love to Lay You Down" – Conway Twitty
April 5 – "Sugar Daddy" – Bellamy Brothers
April 12 – "Honky Tonk Blues" – Charley Pride
April 19 – "It's Like We Never Said Goodbye" – Crystal Gayle
April 26 – "A Lesson in Leaving" – Dottie West
May 3 – "Are You on the Road to Lovin' Me Again" – Debby Boone
May 10 – "Beneath Still Waters" – Emmylou Harris
May 17 – "Gone Too Far" – Eddie Rabbitt
May 24 – "Starting Over Again" – Dolly Parton
May 31 – "My Heart" \ "Silent Night (After the Fight)" – Ronnie Milsap
June 21 – "One Day at a Time" – Cristy Lane
June 28 – "Trying to Love Two Women" – Oak Ridge Boys
July 5 – "He Stopped Loving Her Today" – George Jones
July 12 – "You Win Again" – Charley Pride
July 19 – "Bar Room Buddies" – Merle Haggard and Clint Eastwood
July 26 – "True Love Ways" – Mickey Gilley
August 2 – "Dancin' Cowboys" – Bellamy Brothers
August 9 – "Stand By Me" – Mickey Gilley
August 16 – "Tennessee River" – Alabama
August 23 – "Drivin' My Life Away" – Eddie Rabbitt
August 30 – "Cowboys and Clowns" – Ronnie Milsap
September 6 – "Lookin' for Love" – Johnny Lee
September 27 – "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You" – Dolly Parton
October 4 – "Do You Wanna Go to Heaven" – T.G. Sheppard
October 11 – "Loving Up a Storm" – Razzy Bailey
October 18 – "I Believe in You" – Don Williams
November 1 – "Theme from 'The Dukes of Hazzard' (Good Ol' Boys)" – Waylon Jennings
November 8 – "On the Road Again" – Willie Nelson
November 15 – "Could I Have This Dance" – Anne Murray
November 22 – "Lady" – Kenny Rogers
November 29 – "If You Ever Change Your Mind" – Crystal Gayle
December 6 – "Smoky Mountain Rain" – Ronnie Milsap
December 13 – "Why Lady Why" – Alabama
December 20 – "That's All That Matters" – Mickey Gilley
December 27 – "One in a Million" – Johnny Lee

Other major hits

"Baby You're Something" - John Conlee
"Back to Back" - Jeanne Pruett
"The Best of Strangers" - Barbara Mandrell
"Blue Heartache" -- Gail Davies
"The Blue Side" -- Crystal Gayle
"Broken Trust" -- Brenda Lee (with The Oak Ridge Boys)
"Charlotte's Web" -- Statler Brothers
"Clyde" -- Waylon Jennings
"The Cowboy and the Dandy" -- Brenda Lee
"Crackers" -- Barbara Mandrell
"Daydream Believer" -- Anne Murray
"Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer" -- Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes
"Faded Love" -- Willie Nelson and Ray Price
"Free To Be Lonely Again" -- Debby Boone
"Friday Night Blues" -- John Conlee
"Good Ol' Boys Like Me" -- Don Williams
"Hard Times" -- Lacy J. Dalton
"Holding the Bag" -- Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley
"I Can't Get Enough of You" - Razzy Bailey
"I Don't Want to Lose You" - Con Hunley
"I Wish I Was Eighteen Again" — George Burns
"I'll Even Love You (Better Than I Did Then)" - The Statler Brothers
"I'm Already Blue" -- The Kendalls
"I'm Not Ready Yet" -- George Jones
"It's Hard to Be Humble" -- Mac Davis
"It's Too Late" -- Jeanne Pruett
"It's True Love" -- Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
"I've Never Seen the Likes of You" -- Conway Twitty
"Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" -- Randy Barlow
"Leavin's For Unbelievers" -- Dottie West
"Let's Get It While the Getting's Good" -- Eddy Arnold
"Let's Keep It That Way" -- Mac Davis
"Love the World Away" -- Kenny Rogers
"Lucky Me" - Anne Murray
"Lying Time Again" -- Mel Tillis
"Making Plans" -- Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
"Men" -- Charly McClain
"Midnight Rider" -- Willie Nelson
"Misery and Gin" -- Merle Haggard
"Missin' You" -- Charley Pride
"Morning Comes Too Early" - Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius
"My Home's in Alabama" -- Alabama
"Nothing Sure Looked Good on You" - Gene Watson
"Oh, How I Miss You Tonight" - Jim Reeves and Deborah Allen
"Old Habits" -- Hank Williams Jr.
"The Old Side of Town" - Tom T. Hall
"Over" -- Leon Everette
"Pecos Promenade" - Tanya Tucker
"Pour Me Another Tequila" -- Eddie Rabbitt
"Put It Off Until Tomorrow" - The Kendalls
"Save Your Heart For Me" -- Jacky Ward
"She Can't Say That Anymore" -- John Conlee
"She Just Started Liking Cheating Songs" -- John Anderson
"Shriner's Convention" - Ray Stevens
"Smooth Sailing" -- T.G. Sheppard
"Steppin' Out" - Mel Tillis
"Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me" - Jim Reeves and Deborah Allen
"Take Me to Your Lovin' Place" -- Larry Gatlin
"Takin' Somebody With Me When I Fall" - Larry Gatlin
"Tell Ole I Ain't Here" -- Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley
"Temporarily Yours" -- Jeanne Pruett
"That Lovin' You Feelin Again" -- Roy Orbison and Emmylou Harris
"That's the Way a Cowboy Rocks and Rolls" -- Jacky Ward
"That's What I Get For Loving You" -- Eddy Arnold
"They Never Lost You" - Con Hunley
"Tumbleweed" -- Sylvia
"Two Story House" -- George Jones and Tammy Wynette
"The Way I Am" -- Merle Haggard
"Wayfaring Stranger" -- Emmylou Harris
"Women I've Never Had" -- Hank Williams Jr.
"Yesterday Once More" - Moe Bandy
"You Almost Slipped My Mind" - Charley Pride
"You Lay a Whole Lot of Love on Me" - Con Hunley
"You Make an Angel Wanna Cheat" - The Kendalls
"You Know Just What I'd Do" -- Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
"(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven" -- Reba McEntire
"Your Body is an Outlaw" -- Mel Tillis
"Your Lying Blue Eyes" - John Anderson
"Your Old Cold Shoulder" - Crystal Gayle

Births

October 18 — Josh Gracin, rose to fame as fourth-place contestant on American Idol in 2003; had a string of hits thereafter ("I Want to Live," "Nothin' to Lose").

Deaths

April 4 -- Red Sovine, 61, best known for recitations of truck driving life (car accident resulting from a heart attack)

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

(Group members included Roy Rogers (1911-1998); Bob Nolan (1908-1980); Lloyd Perryman (1917-1977); Tim Spencer (1908-1974); Hugh Farr (1903-1980); and Karl Farr (1909-1961)

Major Awards

Grammy awards

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female -- "Could I Have This Dance?" - Anne Murray
Best Country Vocal Performance, Male -- "He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
Best Country Performance Duo Or Group -- "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again" - Emmylou Harris and Roy Orbison
Best Country Instrumental Performance -- "Orange Blossom Special/Hoedown" - Gilley's Urban Cowboy Band
Best Country Song -- "On The Road Again" - Willie Nelson

Academy of Country Music

Song Of The Year -- "He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones - Bobby Braddock, Curly Putman
Single Of The Year -- "He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones
Album Of The Year -- Movie Soundtrack Urban Cowboy
Top Male Vocalist -- George Jones
Top Female Vocalist -- Dolly Parton
Top New Male Vocalist -- Johnny Lee
Top New Female Vocalist -- Terri Gibbs

Country Music Association

Instrumental Group of the Year -- Charlie Daniels Band
Instrumentalist of the Year -- Roy Clark
Entertainer of the Year -- Barbara Mandrell
Male Vocalist of the Year -- George Jones
Female Vocalist of the Year -- Emmylou Harris
Vocal Group of the Year -- Statler Brothers
Vocal Duo of the Year -- Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley
Album of the Year -- Beverly D'Angelo, Levon Helm, and Sissy Spacek
Song of the Year -- "He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones, Bobby Braddock, and Curly Putman
Single of the Year -- "He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones

External links

Country Music Hall of Fame

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