1987 in country music

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

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.

Top hits of the year

Singles released by American artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

Top new album releases

Other top albums

On television

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.

Hall of Fame inductees

Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

• Rod Brasfield (1910–1958)

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

• Lucille Starr

Major awards

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

Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.

Other links

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

External links

• Country Music Hall of Fame