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Charlie Rich Gets Tanked and Disses John Denver at CMAs
Kanye’s a copycat
Kanye West didn't invent behaving badly at awards ceremonies when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs. A major star making an ass out of himself by denigrating a fellow artist’s triumph was old hat by the time Ye got around to it.
Behold the Country Music Awards held on October 13, 1975, as Charlie Rich, the reigning CMA “Entertainer of the Year,” caused quite the ruckus announcing the new honoree, John Denver.
A swaying Rich, who had enjoyed a great many gin and tonics prior to that moment, stood behind the podium and slurred his way through the nominations. He finally clumsily ripped the envelope open and pulled a Zippo from his pocket. Rich then set fire to the card with a self-satisfied smirk, revealing the winner as: “My friend, Mr. John Denver!”
Mercifully, Denver appeared from Australia via satellite and happily accepted the honor having no clue about Rich’s dick move.
So just what message was Charlie Rich trying to convey?
Much of it had to do with country music’s old guard resenting the influx of what they considered watered-down, sell-out pop artists who had no business calling themselves Country. At the 1974 CMAs, Charlie Rich had won for “Entertainer of the Year” — and certainly, no one would argue his country music cred. However, the “Female Vocalist of the Year” award had gone to Olivia Newton-John, considered by many a straight-up pop singer.
A valid assertion, in my opinion.
This caused a humungous shit-fit for many within the country music community. So, they banded together at the home of George Jones and Tammy Wynette and formed ACE (Association of Country Entertainers) to fight the evil forces of pop sullying their genre.
A dumb idea, in my opinion.
Little did they know that most country music would be pop music within a decade. Shitty pop music. Crossover hits, my…
