April 27 – A story in the reported a possible long-term relationship between Mindy McCready and baseball star Roger Clemens that began when she was 15 years old.[1] 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.[1] However, McCready would state that the relationship was sexual,[2] and spoke about her affair with Clemens in more detail on the November 17 broadcast of Inside Edition.[3]
New York Daily News
May 15 – 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.[4]
People Magazine
May 23 – performs her final concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and retires from show business.
Anne Murray
June 14 – and radio show host/former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker are married in Franklin, Tennessee, with their children as their attendants.[5][6]
Sara Evans
November 11 – Country music superstar 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.[7]
Reba McEntire
November 20 – announces that she would not be returning for the foreseeable future to Dancing with the Stars in order to further her country music career.[8]
Julianne Hough
December 7 – The honors George Jones for his lifetime contributions to the arts.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
December 18 – , a label owned by Clint Black, closes after five years in operation.[9]
Equity Music Group
January 6 – , 96, record producer for artists including Hank Thompson, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and many others.
Ken Nelson
April 22 – , 60, crossover artist whose collaborations with Marie Osmond and Tanya Tucker reached No. 1 in the 1980s. (heart attack)
Paul Davis
May 1 – , 66, country singer and actor who along with his twin brother Jon were regulars on Hee Haw from 1969 to 1986. (heart attack)
Jim Hager
May 5 – , 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)
Jerry Wallace
May 8 – , 89, country and pop singer whose career spanned seven decades. (natural causes)
Eddy Arnold
May 11 – , 74, southern gospel singer-songwriter. (bus accident)
Dottie Rambo
July 16 – , 90, crossover artist from the 1940s with hits "Feudin’ and Fightin" and "Temptation". (congestive heart failure)
Jo Stafford
August 11 – , 81, steel guitarist and member of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys. (heart attack) [11]
Don Helms
September 1 – , 71, country singer and actor best known for his 1971 crossover hit "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (emphysema)
Jerry Reed
September 12 – , 81, honky tonk singer best known for "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down" (colon cancer)
Charlie Walker
December 24 – , 67, Swedish country musician.
Alf Robertson
Bill Clifton
Charles Wolfe
Major awards[edit]
Grammy Awards[edit]
(presented February 8, 2009 in Los Angeles)