Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY (Tuesday, April 28) Advertisement Roy Acuff records "Be Honest With Me," 1941. Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys born in Taylortown, Texas, 1943. Karen Brooks born in Dallas, 1954. Sonny James' single "Need You" went to No. 1, 1967. Alabama's "Mountain Music" album is certified gold and platinum, 1982. George Strait's "Beyond the Blue Neon" album goes gold, 1989. MUSIC AND MORE OPRY RADIO FEATURE PREMIERES FRIDAY America's Grand Ole Opry Weekend, a two-hour weekly syndicated radio program featuring performances recorded live from the Opry stage, premieres Friday. The very first live performance of Darryl Worley's "Have You Forgotten?" -- currently No. 1 on the country charts -- highlights the premiere, the Opry said in a news release. The inaugural show also features Opry members Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, George Jones, Diamond Rio, Blake Shelton, Jennifer Hanson and others. POW SINGS TOBY'S SONG Army Pvt. Patrick Miller kept his spirits high while a prisoner of war in Iraq by singing Toby Keith's "Courtesy Of The Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)." Advertisement The soldier's mother, Mary Pickering, said on ABC's "Good Morning America" that despite his poor singing voice, Miller belted out lines from Keith's hit. "I'm not sure of the song," Pickering said, "but it's where they're at the top of Uncle Sam's list, the Statue of Liberty is shaking her fist. And we're going to put a boot up their (behind)." Miller and several other troops from an Army maintenance unit were held prisoner by Iraqi forces for more than three weeks. They returned to U.S. soil April 20. OPRY OWNER GAYLORD DIES Edward L. Gaylord, whose family business grew into the Gaylord Entertainment conglomerate after purchasing Opryland USA in 1983, has died of complications from cancer. He was 83. When Gaylord bought Opryland for $240 million, it consisted of the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville's WSM AM-FM, TNN, CMT, Opryland Music Group, the Opryland theme park and the Opryland Hotel. He sold TNN and CMT to CBS for $1 billion in 1997. His production company also created television's "Hee Haw" and "The Glen Campbell Show." Funeral services for Gaylord are set for Wednesday at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, the Daily Oklahoman reported. Advertisement
