This Day in Country History: March 28

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1994: Tim McGraw released the single "Don't Take the Girl" from his album Not a Moment Too Soon. This song and album helped launch his wildly successful career.
• 2011: Rascal Flatts received the Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award at the T.J. Martell Foundation. This award is granted to honor those who give back to their community through charitable events and donations.
• 2017: Eric Paslay announced he was partnering with Habitat for Humanity. Paslay is part of the organization's Home is the Key campaign, as he has helped build homes for Habitat and believes in the dignity of having a decent home to live in.
• 2023: Country megastar Alan Jackson's Silverbelly Whiskey was awarded a bronze medal by the International Wine and Spirits Competition. Jackson gave his whiskey the name Silverbelly as a nod to the color of his signature cowboy hat.
• 2025: Blake Shelton and Rascal Flatts partnered to re-record the 2002 chart-topping song "Mayberry." This remastered song has more country twang with plenty of steel guitar and is part of Rascal Flatts' Life is a Highway: Refueled Duets.

Cultural Milestones

• 1955: Superstar Reba McEntire was born on March 28 in Kiowa, Oklahoma. McEntire is a well-known and respected artist and ranks as one of the most influential and successful country music performers of her generation.
• 2008: The Country Music Hall of Fame opened a new exhibit titled Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy. This exhibit was supposed to close on December 31, 2008, but was extended for two years due to popular demand.
• 2015: Reba McEntire celebrated her 60th birthday at Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix, Arizona. Superstars Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and Josh Groban attended this event, helping raise money for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.
• 2015: Organizers at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum had a special program for its new exhibit, Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City, which opened on March 27. This day's presentations featured songwriter sessions, a curator talk, family programs, and a concert with Listen to the Band: The Nashville Cats with Special Guests.
• 2015: Country music artists Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, Cory Chisel, and Emmylou Harris teamed up for the Celebratory Barn Dance and Benefit Concert at the Jaeckle Centre in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. The Jaeckle Centre is a world-class equestrian center — the ideal venue for this upscale barn dance.
• 2020: For 13 hours, artists across multiple genres participated in Twitch Aid. This live-streamed event helped raise funds for folks affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans could watch artists who performed from home, including country stars Garth Brooks, Lady A, Ashley McBryde, Luke Combs, and Ingrid Andress.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 2009: Love and Theft debuted at the Grand Ole Opry with their song "Runaway." This song reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
• 2009: The "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" singer Alan Jackson was the first singer to perform at the newly opened Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas.
• 2015: Miranda Lambert headlined at the prestigious Madison Square Garden in New York City. This was for her Platinum Tour and was her first time headlining on this prestigious stage.
• 2024: Ashley McBryde performed at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, Colorado, as part of her tour, The Devil I Know. In 2019, she was named the New Artist of the Year at the 53rd Annual Country Music Awards.

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 2018: Universal Music Group announced they were signing GRAMMY Award winner Carrie Underwood to its Capitol Records Nashville label. Underwood had been previously signed with Arista Nashville, which was, at that time, a division of Sony Music Nashville.
• 2018: Songwriter Kenny O'Dell died of natural causes. In 1973, O'Dell won a GRAMMY Award for Best Country Song for "Behind Closed Doors," and in 1996, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
• 2020: The Grand Ole Opry aired a live show from its Tennessee location with guests Vince Gill and Amy Grant, along with their daughters, Jenny Gill and Corrina Grant Gill. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, there was no audience at the venue, and the artists performed to cameras and an empty house.
• 2020: Jan Howard, who was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, died at the age of 91. Howard was a member of the Opry for 49 years and had numerous hits that she wrote and performed, including "The One You Slip Around With" and “Evil on Your Mind."
• 2022: The "Like a Cowboy" singer Parker McCollum married his fiancée, Hallie Ray Light. After meeting Hallie, McCollum cleaned up his life and became sober, and he credits his wife for helping him turn things around.