1977 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1977.

Events

• June 25 — Waylon Jennings smash, "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" spends its sixth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It is just the third (and as it turned out, final) six-week No. 1 song of the 1970s, and will be the last song to spend as long atop the charts for 20 years (until 1997's "It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill).
• June 26 — Elvis Presley performs his final concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana. It would later be televised on October 3 on CBS to bad reviews.
• December 31 — Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again" spends its fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It will be the last song to spend that long atop the chart until 1990's "Love Without End, Amen" by George Strait.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

United States

(as certified by Billboard)

Notes

• 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
• A^ First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
• B^ Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
• C^ Only Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

Canada

(as certified by RPM)

Notes

• 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by RPM.
• A^ First RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
• B^ Last RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
• C^ Only RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.

Other major hits

Singles released by American artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

Top new album releases

Other new albums

Births

• February 28 — Jason Aldean, male vocalist of the 2000s.
• May 3 – Eric Church, male vocalist starting in the late 2000s, best known for "Springsteen" and "Drink in My Hand."
• November 17 — Aaron Lines, Canadian country singer of the 2000s, best known for his hit "You Can't Hide Beautiful".
• November 20 — Josh Turner, deep bass-voiced singer of the 2000s, best known for "Why Don't We Just Dance" and "Time is Love."

Deaths

• March 22 – Stoney Cooper, 58, bluegrass and gospel singer who best known for his series of recordings with wife, Wilma Lee (as Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper), from the 1940s through early 1960s.
• May 31 – Lloyd Perryman, 60, member of the Sons of the Pioneers.
• July 16 — Marg Osburne, 49, "The Girl from the Singing Hills", of CBC Radio and CBC Television fame.
• August 16 — Elvis Presley, 42, "The King," cross-genre celebrity who fused rhythm and blues, rockabilly and country music to become popular with country and rock audiences (heart failure).
• October 14 — Bing Crosby, 74, one of popular music's all-time leading performers; several of his 1930s and 1940s hits became hugely popular with country fans (including "Pistol Packin' Mama," the first-ever Billboard country No. 1 song). (heart attack)

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Merle Travis (1917–1983)

Major awards

Grammy Awards

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue", Crystal Gayle
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Lucille", Kenny Rogers
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Heaven's Just a Sin Away", The Kendalls
• Best Country Instrumental Performance — "Country Instrumentalist of the Year", Hargus "Pig" Robbins
• Best Country Song — "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue", Richard Leigh (Performer: Crystal Gayle)

Juno Awards

• Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Murray McLauchlan
• Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Carroll Baker
• Country Group or Duo of the Year — The Good Brothers

Academy of Country Music

• Entertainer of the Year — Dolly Parton
• Song of the Year — "Lucille", Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum (Performer: Kenny Rogers)
• Single of the Year — "Lucille", Kenny Rogers
• Album of the Year — Kenny Rogers, Kenny Rogers
• Top Male Vocalist — Kenny Rogers
• Top Female Vocalist — Crystal Gayle
• Top Vocal Group — The Statler Brothers
• Top New Male Vocalist — Eddie Rabbitt
• Top New Female Vocalist — Debby Boone

Country Music Association

• Entertainer of the Year — Ronnie Milsap
• Song of the Year — "Lucille", Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum (Performer: Kenny Rogers)
• Single of the Year — "Lucille", Kenny Rogers
• Album of the Year — Ronnie Milsap Live, Ronnie Milsap
• Male Vocalist of the Year — Ronnie Milsap
• Female Vocalist of the Year — Crystal Gayle
• Vocal Duo of the Year — Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius
• Vocal Group of the Year — The Statler Brothers
• Instrumentalist of the Year — Roy Clark
• Instrumental Group of the Year — Original Texas Playboys

Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947–1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 ()
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 ()
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition." 2005.

Other links

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

External links

• Country Music Hall of Fame