Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY (Wednesday, Feb. 5) Advertisement Henson Cargill born in Oklahoma City, Okla., 1941. Pam Gadd born in Independence, Mo., 1960. Sara Evans born in Boonville, Mo., 1971. Roy Acuff makes Grand Ole Opry debut, singing "The Great Speckled Bird," 1938. Eddy Arnold's Top Ten single "Many Tears Ago" is charted, 1949. Elvis Presley returns from the U.S. Army, 1960. Patsy Cline records "Sweet Dreams (of You)" just one month before her death, 1963. George Jones and Tammy Wynette have No. 1 song, "Near You," 1977. Dan Seals' "Won't Be Blue Anymore" album goes gold, 1987. Mark Chesnutt's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" hits the top R&R country chart, 1999. MUSIC AND MORE CMA SETS NOVEMBER DATE FOR AWARDS The Country Music Association says the 37th Annual CMA Awards show will be held Nov. 5 in Nashville and broadcast on CBS. For the 12th time, Vince Gill will host the show, the CMA announced on its Web site, cmaawards.com. Advertisement CBS research estimated 38 million viewers watched the 2002 CMA Awards on Nov. 6. The final nominees in the 12 award categories will be announced Aug. 26 in Nashville. ERIC ANDERSON TOURS NEXT MONTH Eric Andersen begins a U.S. tour next month to support his new double-CD set, "Beat Avenue," to be released Feb. 25. The first disc contains 12 new original songs while the second is made up of just two compositions, one the 26-minute title track about Anderson's experiences on the day President Kennedy was assassinated. Anderson's tour begins March 7 in New York. WILLS' HIT HONORS CHALLENGER CREW Mark Wills' current No. 1 song "19 Somethin'" includes a line that honors the crew of the space shuttle Challenger, wiped out when the spacecraft exploded on liftoff Jan. 28, 1986. So Wills was hit especially hard when he learned of the Columbia disaster, which took the lives of seven crew members last Saturday. Wills says it's "unbelievably ironic" his hit song would pay tribute to the Challenger crew in view of what happened to Columbia, LAUNCH reports. "It's a very sad day for America and for the world, but I hope that every time the song is played from this day forward, it will be a reminder in spite of all the sorrow, we have seven new heroes who will never be forgotten," he said. Advertisement RANDY TRAVIS ON VOICE REST Randy Travis's doctor has ordered him to rest his voice for three weeks, says CMT.com. He's postponing tour dates and won't make it to the Country Radio Seminar later this month in Nashville. Travis is not alone -- last month Keith Urban was told to rest his voice to soothe a vocal chord problem, and early this week was ordered to take another six weeks' voice rest.
