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1987 in country music

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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1987.

Contents

Events

  • June 13 — Randy Travis' "Forever and Ever, Amen" spends three weeks at No. 1 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It is the first multi-week chart-topping song since "Lost in the Fifties Tonight (In the Still of the Night)" by Ronnie Milsap spent two weeks atop the chart in September 1985; in that time span, 85 songs would rotate in and out of the chart's top spot. Incidentally, only three other songs during the entire 1980s decade — all of them in 1980 — would spend more than two weeks at No. 1, owing much to how Billboard compiled the chart data at the time.
  • September — Dolly Parton's much anticipated TV variety series, Dolly, premieres on ABC in September. Despite a promising start (due to strong ratings in its early weeks), the show was panned by critics and its audience began to lose interest. After a continual decline on viewership, the series was cancelled at the end of the 1987-1988 season.

    • No dates

  • 46-year-old singer-songwriter K.T. Oslin becomes the success story of the year with her hit "80s Ladies," a Grammy Award-winner which told the story of three friends from childhood who stayed together through an era of social change. The song spawned an award-winning video as well and despite only reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, was one of the most played songs of the year. Oslin's rise to fame in her mid-40s came at a time when mainstream country radio was beginning to shun older female artists in lieu of younger, more attractive stars.

    • Regular series

  • Dolly (1987–1988, ABC)
  • Hee Haw (1969–1993, syndicated)

    • Births

  • January 31 – Tyler Hubbard, member of Florida Georgia Line, a duo of the 2010s.
  • August 16 – Dan Smyers, member of Dan + Shay, a rising duo of the 2010s.
  • September 25 — Greg Bates, up-and-coming country singer of the early 2010s.

    • Deaths

  • June 25 - Boudleaux Bryant, 67, songwriter (with wife Felice) of many 1950s and 1960s hits.

    • Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

  • Rod Brasfield (1910–1958)

    • Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

  • Lucille Starr

    • Grammy Awards

  • Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "80's Ladies," K. T. Oslin
  • Best Male Country Vocal Performance — Always & Forever, Randy Travis
  • Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — Trio, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris
  • Best Country Collaboration with Vocals — "Make No Mistake, She's Mine," Ronnie Milsap and Kenny Rogers
  • Best Country Instrumental Performance — "String of Pars," Asleep at the Wheel
  • Best Country Song — "Forever and Ever, Amen," Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz (Performer: Randy Travis)

    • Juno Awards

  • Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Ian Tyson
  • Country Female Vocalist of the Year — k.d. lang
  • Country Group or Duo of the Year — Prairie Oyster

    • Academy of Country Music

  • Entertainer of the Year — Hank Williams, Jr.
  • Song of the Year — "Forever and Ever, Amen," Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz (Performer: Randy Travis)
  • Single of the Year — "Forever and Ever, Amen," Randy Travis
  • Album of the Year — Trio, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt
  • Top Male Vocalist — Randy Travis
  • Top Female Vocalist — Reba McEntire
  • Top Vocal Duo — The Judds
  • Top Vocal Group — Highway 101
  • Top New Male Vocalist — Ricky Van Shelton
  • Top New Female Vocalist — K. T. Oslin
  • Video of the Year — "80's Ladies," K. T. Oslin (Director: Jack Cole)

    • Canadian Country Music Association

  • Entertainer of the Year — k.d. lang
  • Male Artist of the Year — Ian Tyson
  • Female Artist of the Year — Anita Perras
  • Group of the Year — Family Brown
  • SOCAN Song of the Year — "Heroes," Gary Fjellgaard (Performer: Mercey Brothers)
  • Single of the Year — "Navajo Rug," Ian Tyson
  • Album of the Year — Cowboyography, Ian Tyson
  • Top Selling Album — Storms of Life, Randy Travis
  • Vista Rising Star Award — k.d. lang
  • Duo of the Year — Anita Perras and Tim Taylor

    • Country Music Association

  • Entertainer of the Year — Hank Williams, Jr.
  • Song of the Year — "Forever and Ever, Amen," Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz (Performer: Randy Travis)
  • Single of the Year — "Forever and Ever, Amen," Randy Travis
  • Album of the Year — Always & Forever, Randy Travis
  • Male Vocalist of the Year — Randy Travis
  • Female Vocalist of the Year — Reba McEntire
  • Vocal Duo of the Year — Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White
  • Vocal Group of the Year — The Judds
  • Horizon Award — Holly Dunn
  • Music Video of the Year — "My Name Is Bocephus," Hank Williams, Jr. (Directors: Bill Fishman and Preacher Ewing)
  • Instrumentalist of the Year — Johnny Gimble
  • Country Music Association
  • Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

    • References

    1987 in country music Wikipedia
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