2008 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2008.

Events

• April 27 – A story in the New York Daily News reported a possible long-term relationship between Mindy McCready and baseball star Roger Clemens that began when she was 15 years old. Though Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, acknowledged that McCready was a "close family friend," Hardin denied the affair and threatened to bring a defamation suit against him. However, McCready would state that the relationship was sexual, and spoke about her affair with Clemens in more detail on the November 17 broadcast of Inside Edition.
• May 10 – Garth Brooks inducted Carrie Underwood on Grand Ole Opry.
• May 15 – People Magazine reported Canadian singer Shania Twain and her husband, music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, had separated after 14 years of marriage. The couple were married on December 28, 1993, after Twain met Lange at Nashville's Fan Fair earlier in the year.
• May 23 – Anne Murray performs her final concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and retires from show business.
• June 14 – Sara Evans and radio show host/former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker are married in Franklin, Tennessee, with their children as their attendants.
• November 11 – Country music superstar Reba McEntire departs her longtime record label MCA Nashville, after 24 years and signed to The Valory Music Co., sister label to Big Machine Records. McEntire and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta had previously worked together in the 1990s when Borchetta was senior president of promotion for MCA Nashville.
• November 20 – Julianne Hough announces that she would not be returning for the foreseeable future to Dancing with the Stars in order to further her country music career.
• December 7 – The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honors George Jones for his lifetime contributions to the arts.
• December 18 – Equity Music Group, a label owned by Clint Black, closes after five years in operation.

Top hits of the year

The following songs placed within the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs or Canada Country charts in 2008:

Top new album releases

The following albums placed within the Top 50 on the Top Country Albums charts in 2008:

Other top albums

Deaths

• January 6 – Ken Nelson, 96, record producer for artists including Hank Thompson, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and many others.
• April 22 – Paul Davis, 60, crossover artist whose collaborations with Marie Osmond and Tanya Tucker reached No. 1 in the 1980s. (heart attack)
• May 1 – Jim Hager, 66, country singer and actor who along with his twin brother Jon were regulars on Hee Haw from 1969 to 1986. (heart attack)
• May 5 – Jerry Wallace, 79, crossover artist who scored several country hits during the 1970s including the No. 1 "If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry" in 1972. (congestive heart failure)
• May 8 – Eddy Arnold, 89, country and pop singer whose career spanned seven decades. (natural causes)
• May 11 – Dottie Rambo, 74, southern gospel singer-songwriter. (bus accident)
• July 16 – Jo Stafford, 90, crossover artist from the 1940s with hits "Feudin’ and Fightin" and "Temptation". (congestive heart failure)
• August 11 – Don Helms, 81, steel guitarist and member of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys. (heart attack)
• September 1 – Jerry Reed, 71, country singer and actor best known for his 1971 crossover hit "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (emphysema)
• September 12 – Charlie Walker, 81, honky tonk singer best known for "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down" (colon cancer)
• December 24 – Alf Robertson, 67, Swedish country musician.

Hall of Fame inductees

Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees

• Bill Clifton
• Charles Wolfe

Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

• Tom T. Hall (1936-2021), singer and songwriter, known as "The Storyteller"
• Emmylou Harris (born 1947), neo-traditional singer and songwriter
• The Statler Brothers (Harold Reid (1939–2020), Don Reid (born 1945), Phil Balsley (born 1939), Lew DeWitt (1938–1990), Jimmy Fortune (born 1955)), diverse country music group known for pop-styled, nostalgic and gospel songs.
• Ernest "Pop" Stoneman (1893–1968), singer, songwriter, and musician, patriarch of the family group The Stonemans

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

• Prairie Oyster
• Brian Ferriman
• Wes Montgomery

Major awards

Grammy Awards

(presented February 8, 2009 in Los Angeles)

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance – "Last Name", Carrie Underwood
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance – "Letter to Me", Brad Paisley
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – "Stay", Sugarland
• Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – "Killing the Blues", Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
• Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Cluster Pluck", Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert, and Steve Wariner
• Best Country Song – "Stay", Jennifer Nettles
• Best Country Album – Troubadour, George Strait
• Best Bluegrass Album – Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

Juno Awards

(presented March 29, 2009 in Vancouver)

• Country Recording of the Year – Beautiful Life, Doc Walker

CMT Music Awards

(presented April 14 in Nashville)

• Video of the Year – "Our Song", Taylor Swift
• Male Video of the Year – "I Got My Game On", Trace Adkins
• Female Video of the Year – "Our Song", Taylor Swift
• Group Video of the Year – "Take Me There", Rascal Flatts
• Duo Video of the Year – "Stay", Sugarland
• USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year – "I Wonder", Kellie Pickler
• Collaborative Video of the Year – "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore", Bon Jovi & LeAnn Rimes
• Performance of the Year – "I Wonder", Kellie Pickler
• Supporting Character of the Year – Rodney Carrington in "I Got My Game On"
• Wide Open Country Video of the Year – "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)", Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
• Tearjerker Video of the Year – "I Wonder", Kellie Pickler
• Comedy Video of the Year – "Online", Brad Paisley
• Video Director of the Year – Michael Salomon

Academy of Country Music

(presented April 5, 2009 in Las Vegas)

• Entertainer of the Year – Carrie Underwood
• Top Male Vocalist – Brad Paisley
• Top Female Vocalist – Carrie Underwood
• Top Vocal Group – Rascal Flatts
• Top Vocal Duo – Sugarland
• Top New Male Vocalist – Jake Owen
• Top New Female Vocalist – Julianne Hough
• Top New Vocal Duo or Group – Zac Brown Band
• Top New Artist – Julianne Hough
• Album of the Year – Fearless, Taylor Swift
• Single Record of the Year – "You're Gonna Miss This", Trace Adkins
• Song of the Year – "In Color", Jamey Johnson
• Video of the Year – "Waitin' on a Woman", Brad Paisley
• Vocal Event of the Year – "Start a Band", Brad Paisley and Keith Urban
• Poets Award – Merle Haggard and Harlan Howard
• Jim Reeves International Award – Dolly Parton
• Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award – Hank Williams, Jr., Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and Jerry Reed
• Tex Ritter Award – Beer for My Horses

Americana Music Honors & Awards

• Album of the Year – Raising Sand (Robert Plant and Alison Krauss)
• Artist of the Year – Levon Helm
• Duo/Group of the Year – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
• Song of the Year – "She Left Me For Jesus" (Brian Keane and Hayes Carll
• Emerging Artist of the Year – Mike Farris
• Instrumentalist of the Year – Buddy Miller
• Spirit of Americana/Free Speech Award – Joan Baez
• Lifetime Achievement: Trailblazer – Nanci Griffith
• Lifetime Achievement: Songwriting – John Haitt
• Lifetime Achievement: Performance – Jason & the Scorchers
• Lifetime Achievement: Instrumentalist – Larry Campbell
• Lifetime Achievement: Executive – Terry Licknola
• Lifetime Achievement: Producer/Engineer – Tony Brown

ARIA Awards

(presented in Sydney on October 19, 2008)

• Best Country Album – Rattlin' Bones (Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson)

Canadian Country Music Association

(presented September 8 in Winnipeg)

• Fans' Choice Award – Doc Walker
• Male Artist of the Year – Johnny Reid
• Female Artist of the Year – Jessie Farrell
• Group or Duo of the Year – Doc Walker
• Songwriter(s) of the Year – "Beautiful Life", written by Murray Pulver, Chris Thorsteinson and Dave Wasyliw
• Single of the Year – "Beautiful Life", performed by Doc Walker
• Album of the Year – Beautiful Life, Doc Walker
• Top Selling Album – The Ultimate Hits, Garth Brooks
• Top Selling Canadian Album – Kicking Stones, Johnny Reid
• CMT Video of the Year – "Beautiful Life", Doc Walker
• Rising Star Award – Jessie Farrell
• Roots Artist or Group of the Year – Corb Lund

Country Music Association

(presented November 12 in Nashville)

• Entertainer of the Year – Kenny Chesney
• Female Vocalist of the Year – Carrie Underwood
• Male Vocalist of the Year – Brad Paisley
• New Artist of the Year – Lady Antebellum
• Vocal Group of the Year – Rascal Flatts
• Vocal Duo of the Year – Sugarland
• Single of the Year – "I Saw God Today", George Strait
• Album of the Year – Troubadour, George Strait
• Song of the Year – "Stay", Sugarland
• Musical Event of the Year – "Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)", Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
• Music Video of the Year – "Waitin' on a Woman", Brad Paisley and Andy Griffith
• Musician of the Year – Mac McAnally

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Stars who were honored in 2008

Brooks & Dunn

Kennedy Center Honors

Country stars who wre honored in 2008

George Jones

See also

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

Bibliography

• Whitburn, Joel, Top Country Songs 1944–2005, 6th Edition. 2005,

References