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TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY

(Tuesday, March 11)

W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel born in Malta, Ohio, 1890.

Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers born in Williamsburg, Va., 1955.

Crystal Gayle first appears on the country music charts; 1972.

William Lee Golden asked to leave the Oak Ridge Boys, 1987 (he rejoins group in 1996).

Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash win Grammys for "Stand By Your Man" and "A Boy Named Sue," 1970.

Merle Haggard's "The Fightin' Side Of Me" album goes gold, 1971.

Willie Nelson's "Red-Headed Stranger" becomes his first gold album, 1976.

Neal McCoy's "No Doubt About It" reaches top of the charts, 1994.

John Michael Montgomery's "Kickin' It Up" goes platinum, 1994.

Vince Gill's "Tryin' To Get Over You" hits No. 1 on Billboard country chart, 1994.

George Strait's "You Can't Make A Heart Love Somebody?" tops Billboard country chart, 1995.

Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now?" No. 1 on Billboard country chart, 2000.

Joe Diffie and Theresa Crump are married, 2000.

MUSIC AND MORE

MCGRAW'S 'DANCEHALL DOCTORS' SHOW HITS NASHVILLE

After overcoming a scratchy throat and opening his 50-stop tour in Birmingham, Ala., last Friday, Tim McGraw brings his "Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors One Band Show" to Nashville Tuesday night.

McGraw and the band played for 2 hours, 20 minutes in Birmingham, performing roughly 30 songs for a crowd of nearly 17,000, the Birmingham News reported, noting McGraw was nursing a sore throat the day before but seemed to recover by show time.

He also recovered from a few over zealous fans who rushed him while he performed, only to be escorted off stage by security personnel.

TRACE LOOKS FORWARD TO 'NASHVILLE STAR' JUDGING

Trace Adkins says he's looking forward to judging an episode of "Nashville Star," the USA Network reality series pitting 12 country music hopefuls in competition for a record deal.

The series made its debut over the weekend, with a three-judge panel choosing six men and six women who will live together in a Nashville house and battle it out for a contract with Sony Nashville.

Adkins tells LAUNCH it will be interesting to see how the contestants interact.

"But knowing the way that people who love country music are generally," says Adkins, "I don't think you'll get all that bickering and back-biting and stuff that you might see in some other type genre, you know what I'm sayin'? I just don't think that's gonna happen."

MISSISSIPPI DECLARES STEVE AZAR DAY

This week the state of Mississippi will give notable native Steve Azar his own day.

Gov. Ronnie Musgrove made the official Steve Azar Day declaration on Thursday, citing Azar's positive contributions to the image of Mississippi. He's known for his 2001 hit single "I Don't Have to Be Me ('Til Monday)" from his album, "Waitin' On Joe," released last April.