Born in Tennessee on This Day in 1918, the Nashville Sound Innovator and One of Country Music’s Most Successful Hitmakers Ever

Some country artists are lucky to enjoy a good five years of success. Meanwhile, Eddy Arnold remained relevant for seven whole decades, sending more songs to the country music charts than everyone except George Jones. Born on this day (May 15) in 1918 in Henderson, Tennessee, Arnold became the youngest person ever elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame upon his 1966 induction.

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Richard Edward “Eddy” Arnold grew up in a large farming family surrounded by music, often slipping away to find a private spot where he could sing. “I discovered I could speak to people through songs in a way I never could by just talking,” he later said.

Following his father’s death when he was 11, Arnold helped supplement his family’s income by charging $1 a night to sing at barbecues, candy pulls, and other social events. In 1934, he made his radio debut on WTJS-AM in Jackson, Tennessee, at age 16.

He continued working on radio stations and at local beer joints before landing a contract with RCA Victor in 1946. After a few Top 5 hits, Arnold scored his first No. 1 hit, “What Is Life Without Love”, in 1947. That was just the beginning of an unprecedented chart run, sending five songs to No. 1 in 1948 alone.

Thanks to his then-manager, Col. Tom Parker—who helped shape Elvis Presley’s career—Arnold branched out into television, hosting his very own variety program, The Eddy Arnold Show. He was also one of the first country music artists to perform in Las Vegas.

Eddy Arnold’s Career Pivot

Inevitably, the rise of rock and roll in the mid-1950s meant the fall of country music. Like many others, Eddy Arnold saw his record sales decline.

Briefly considering retirement, he instead traded his “Tennessee Plowboy” image for a sleeker persona, donning tuxedos and incorporating lush orchestral arrangements into his work.

Alongside Jim Reeves, Arnold helped pioneer what would become the “Nashville sound”—which, according to Ultimate Classic Rock’s Dave Lifton, “had more in common with mainstream ‘50s vocal pop than Western swing or rockabilly.”

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Arnold certainly made it work, scoring a Top 10 pop hit with his 1965 version of the Hank Cochran-penned “Make the World Go Away”. Two years later, he won the Country Music Association’s coveted Entertainer of the Year award.

A Bona Fide Country Legend

All told, Eddy Arnold sold 85 million records and spent a total of 145 weeks atop the country charts  — more than any other artist in history.

He died in Nashville on May 8, 2008, just one week shy of his 90th birthday. Three weeks later, RCA released “To Life” as a single from Arnold’s final album, After All These Years. Debuting at No. 49 on the Hot Country Songs chart, it set the record for the longest span between a first chart single and a last: 62 years and 11 months.

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