It’s Valentine’s Day, and couples everywhere are celebrating their romantic love. Chock full of tender ballads and swooning melodies, country music has a long tradition of celebrating romance in all its forms. On this day (Feb. 14) in 2002, country singer Steve Holy gave nearly 100 people a Valentine’s Day to remember when he performed during a mass marriage ceremony in Newport News, Virginia.
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Forty couples turned out that day to bid farewell to their single days and celebrate the first day of their lives together. Additionally, nearly 1,000 guests showed up to witness love in full bloom. After all the rings were swapped and the “I do’s” exchanged, Holy sang his No. 1 hit “Good Morning Beautiful” as 40 couples shared their first dance.
Featured in the 2001 movie Angel Eyes—starring Jennifer Lopez and Jim Cavaziel—”Good Morning Beautiful” was initially released as part of the film’s soundtrack. Released in July 2001, it climbed the hot country singles chart, eventually reaching No. 1 on Feb. 2, 2002. Spending 41 weeks total on the chart, “Good Morning Beautiful” stayed at No. 1 for five weeks.
After the song’s chart success, Holy added “Good Morning Beautiful” to later editions of his debut album, Blue Moon.
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More About Steve Holy
Steve Holy was born the youngest of eight children on Feb. 23, 1972, in Dallas, Texas. Growing up, he kept his classmates entertained with his spot-on Conway Twitty impersonations.
At 19, Holy auditioned for the local Mesquite Opry. There, he caught the eye of Wilbur Rimes, father of ’90s country music ingenue LeAnn Rimes. Holy signed with Curb Records in 1999, and Rimes produced his 2000 debut album, Blue Moon.
In addition to “Good Morning Beautiful,” the album yielded four hit singles—”Don’t Make Me Beg”, the title track, and “The Hunger.”
For four years, a second No. 1 hit would elude Holy, until he again reached the top of the country charts with “Brand New Girlfriend” in 2006.
“I really felt like it was a hit. I didn’t know for sure,” he told CMT in 2006. “But when I played it on the road for about year, I saw the reaction. It’s kind of amazing to have a song that gets a bigger reaction than your five-week No. 1.”
Holy released his most recent album, A Christmas to Remember, in 2021.
Featured image by Rusty Russell/Getty Images
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