1998 in country music explained
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1998.
Events
- January 10 — "Retro Country USA," a weekly two-hour syndicated radio program spotlighting major country hits of the 1980s (along with some from the 1970s and early 1990s), premieres. The show is initially hosted by Tampa radio personality Ken Cooper, and later "Big" Steve Kelly.
- February 25 — Johnny Cash's album, Unchained, wins a Grammy Award for Best Country Album. The album had been a critical success but was largely ignored by mainstream country radio, a fact Cash and producer Rick Rubin pick up on when they purchase a full-page advertisement in Billboard magazine. The ad, which appeared in March, featured a young Cash displaying his middle finger and sarcastically "thanking" radio for supporting the album.
- June 30 — The divorce of Vince and Janis Gill (of Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is finalized.[1]
- December — The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honors Willie Nelson for his lifetime contributions to the arts. Nelson is the first primarily country performer so honored.
Top hits of the year
See also: List of RPM number-one country singles of 1998.
Singles released by American artists
Singles released by Canadian artists
Top new album releases
See also: List of number-one country albums of 1998 (U.S.) and List of number-one country albums of 1998 (Canada).
Other top albums
Deaths
- January 7 — Owen Bradley, 82, legendary record producer for top artists. (respiratory illness)
- January 17 — Cliffie Stone, 80, music executive and bassist.
- January 19 — Carl Perkins, 65, top picker and rockabilly artist. (complications from multiple strokes)
- January 24 — Justin Tubb, 62, singer-songwriter who fused honky-tonk and rockabilly in the 1950s.
- February 19 — Grandpa Jones, 84, banjo player, old-time country/gospel singer, comedian and regular on "Hee Haw" (stroke)
- February 25 — Rockin' Sidney Simien, 59, rhythm and blues, Zydeco, and soul musician best known to country audiences for his 1985 hit, "My Toot Toot." (cancer)
- April 6 — Tammy Wynette, 55, top country female vocalist of the 1960s and 1970s, best known for hits "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "Stand By Your Man." (blood clot)
- April 16 — Rose Maddox, 71, female honky-tonk and rockabilly pioneer who fronted the Maddox Brothers and Rose (kidney failure)
- May 7 — Eddie Rabbitt, 56, prolific songwriter and pop-country vocalist who once had 35 Top 10 hits in as many releases. (lung cancer)
- May 22 – Royce Kendall, 62, sang alongside daughter, Jeannie Kendall, of The Kendalls. (stroke)
- June 10 — Steve Sanders, 45, member of the Oak Ridge Boys from 1987 to 1995; replaced and succeeded by William Lee Golden. (suicide)
- July 6 — Roy Rogers, 86, actor, singer and "King of the Cowboys." (congestive heart failure)
- October 2 — Gene Autry, 91, actor and "The Singing Cowboy" (lymphoma).
Hall of Fame inductees
Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Major awards
Grammy Awards
- Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "You're Still the One," Shania Twain
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "If You Ever Have Forever in Mind", Vince Gill
- Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "There's Your Trouble", Dixie Chicks
- Best Country Collaboration with Vocals — "Same Old Train", Clint Black, Joe Diffie, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt and Dwight Yoakam
- Best Country Instrumental Performance — "A Soldier's Joy" Vince Gill and Randy Scruggs
- Best Country Song — "You're Still the One", Shania Twain and Robert John "Mutt" Lange
- Best Country Album — Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks
- Best Bluegrass Album — Bluegrass Rules!, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Juno Awards
- Best Country Male Vocalist — Paul Brandt
- Best Country Female Vocalist — Shania Twain
- Best Country Group or Duo — Leahy
Academy of Country Music
ARIA Awards
(presented in Sydney on October 20, 1998)
Canadian Country Music Association
Country Music Association
RPM Big Country Awards
- Canadian Country Artist of the Year — Shania Twain
- Best Country Album — Come On Over, Shania Twain
- Best Country Single — "Little Ol' Kisses", Julian Austin
- Male Artist of the Year — Paul Brandt
- Female Artist of the Year — Terri Clark
- Group of the Year — Leahy
- Outstanding New Male Artist — Bruce Guthro
- Outstanding New Female Artist — Beverley Mahood
- Outstanding New Group or Duo — Montana Sky
- Canadian Country Video — "Little Ol' Kisses", Julian Austin
- Top Country Composer(s) — Julian Austin
See also
Further reading
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition." 2005.
External links
Notes and References
- Encyclopedia: Pruett. David B.. Gill, Vince(nt Grant). 2015-01-13. Oxford University Press. Oxford Music Online. 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2275832.
