This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2016.
Events
- January 7 â Rachel Reinert announces that she is leaving the band Gloriana.
- January 26 â Thomas Rhett's "Die a Happy Man" spends a sixth week at No. 1 on Country Airplay, becoming the first artist to spend six or more weeks atop that chart since Taylor Swift did so with "Our Song" in late 2007.
- February 11 â Charles Kelley and wife Cassie McConnell welcome first child, son Ward Charles Kelley.
- March 1 â Don Williams announces his retirement after six decades in the music business. He died in September 2017 at age 78.
- March 4 â Loretta Lynn releases her album Full Circle. This album is the first album from Lynn in over a decade since 2004's Van Lear Rose.
- March 7 â Dolly Parton announces plans for her first major North American tour in 25 years.
- April 1 â Carrie Underwood quest Kellie Pickler, Kelleigh Bannen, Lauren Alaina and Jana Kramer at the 4th ACM Party for a Cause Festival in Las Vegas Festival Grounds.
- April 30 â Ray Pillow celebrates his 50th Grand Ole Opry anniversary
- May 12 â ABC cancels musical drama Nashville after four seasons. One month later, the series is picked up by CMT.
- June 1 â The Dixie Chicks begin their DCX MMXVI World Tour, the first time the band toured North America in ten years.
- June 8 â Kellie Pickler and Aaron Tippin at the CMT Music Awards.
- July 11 â The body of Craig Morgan's 19-year-old son, Jerry Greer, is recovered from Kentucky Lake.
- July 15 â Bill Anderson Celebrates his 55th Grand Ole Opry Anniversary
- September 16 â A total of 30 artists gather to record "Forever Country", a single released in honor of the 50th annual Country Music Association awards. The song immediately debuted on country radio and reached the Hot Country Airplay's top 40 in its first week on the chart; on the all-encompassing Hot Country Songs chart, the song debuted at No. 1 the week of October 8, the third song to do so since its inception in 2012.
- December 17 â Benny Birchfield, the widower of country music singer Jean Shepard, is injured following an attack at his home, where two others died. One of the victims was Icie Hawkins, granddaughter of Shepard and Hawkshaw Hawkins.
Top hits of the year
The following songs placed within the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay or Canada Country charts in 2016:
Singles released by American artists
Singles released by Canadian artists
Notes
- "âÂÂ" denotes releases that did not chart
Top new album releases
The following albums placed on the Top Country Albums charts in 2016:
Other top albums
Deaths
- January 8 â Red Simpson, 81, singer-songwriter best known for the 1971 hit "I'm a Truck." (heart attack)
- January 18 â Glenn Frey, 67, founding member of the Eagles (numerous complications)
- February 22 â Sonny James, 87, singer and Country Music Hall of Fame member (natural causes).
- March 4 â Joey Martin Feek, 40, one-half of husband-and-wife duo Joey + Rory (cervical cancer)
- March 9 â Ray Griff, 75, Canadian singer-songwriter (aspiration pneumonia)
- March 18 â Ned Miller, 90, singer of the 1960s, best known for "From a Jack to a King."
- April 6 â Merle Haggard, 79, singer-songwriter with many hits between the 1960s and 1980s, known as a pioneer of the Bakersfield sound (pneumonia).
- May 16 â Emilio Navaira, 53, Tejano and country music singer, best known for the 1995 hit "It's Not the End of the World" (heart attack).
- May 17 â Guy Clark, 74, singer-songwriter best known for hits recorded by Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and others (cancer).
- June 23 â Ralph Stanley, 89, legendary bluegrass pioneer who was a member of The Stanley Brothers and the Grand Ole Opry (skin cancer)
- July 16 â Bonnie Brown, 77, member of The Browns (lung cancer)
- August 5 â Richard Fagan, 69, songwriter best known for co-writing two of John Michael Montgomery's number one hits: "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)" and "Be My Baby Tonight" (liver cancer).
- September 1 â Kacey Jones, 66, singer-songwriter and humorist, writer of the Mickey Gilley hit "I'm the One Mama Warned You About", cancer.
- September 21 â John D. Loudermilk, 82, singer and songwriter.
- September 25 â Jean Shepard, 82, pioneering female country artist and the only woman to be a member of the Opry for sixty years (Parkinson's disease).
- October 30 â Curly Putman, 85, songwriter, known for writing or co-writing classics such as "Green, Green Grass of Home", "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today".
- November 14 â Holly Dunn, 59, singer-songwriter and former Opry member best known for this hits "Daddy's Hands", "Are You Ever Gonna Love Me" and "You Really Had Me Going" (ovarian cancer).
- December 2 â Mark Gray, 64, singer-songwriter and member of Exile from 1979 and 1982.
- December 18 â Gordie Tapp, 94, comedian and longtime cast member of the television series Hee Haw.
- December 29 - Billy Joe Burnette, 75, co-writer of Red Sovine's "Teddy Bear"
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
Academy of Country Music
(presented April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas)
ACM Honors <br> (presented August 30, 2016)
Americana Music Honors & Awards
American Country Countdown Awards
(presented May 1 in Los Angeles)
Academy of Country Music
American Music Awards
(presented in November 20 in Los Angeles)
ARIA Awards
(presented in Sydney on November 23, 2016)
Canadian Country Music Association
(presented September 11 in London, Ontario)
- Fans' Choice Awards â Brett Kissel
- Album of the Year â Tin Roof, Gord Bamford
- Female Artist of the Year â Jess Moskaluke
- Male Artist of the Year â Brett Kissel
- Group or Duo of the Year â High Valley
- Single of the Year â "Bring Down the House", Dean Brody
- CMT Video of the Year â "Bring Down the House", Dean Brody
- Songwriter of the Year â Dean Brody ("Bring Down the House")
- Roots Artist of the Year â The Washboard Union
- Interactive Artist of the Year â Brett Kissel
- Rising Star â The Washboard Union
Country Music Association
(presented November 2 in Nashville)
CMT Music Awards
(presented on June 8 in Nashville)
CMT Artists of the Year <br> (presented on October 20, 2016, in Nashville)
Grammy Awards
(presented February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles)
Juno Awards
(presented April 2, 2017 in Ottawa)
See also
References