Articles & Stories

Honoring Dolly Parton (1946–2026), a dear friend Sonny James admired for decades — for her voice, her songs and a generous spirit that touched millions.

Eric Clapton records "Christmas in My Hometown," the holiday song Sonny James co-wrote and first released in 1954, for his first Christmas album.

Celebrating Rick Hall, the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music" and a lifelong hometown friend of Sonny, who passed on January 2, 2018.

Sonny joins Glen Campbell, Jerry Reed and James Burton for a Bill Monroe classic on "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" in 1970, with Sonny on fiddle.

The 2017 Grammy Awards honored Sonny James in its In Memoriam tribute, airing his performance of "Young Love" before a worldwide television audience.

Sonny James and his Southern Gentlemen stop by his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 1966.

Remembering Lin Bown, the first tenor whose blend helped define the close harmonies of Sonny James and the Southern Gentlemen.

Photographs from Sonny James's years of military service during the Korean War.

Remembering Glenn Huggins, bass singer of the Southern Gentlemen, known forever as "Mr. Running Bear," and the quartet's journey from a college campus to Nashville.

Remembering Sonny's birthday, May 1, 1928, with the song whose title shares the day.

WSM's Eddie Stubbs travels to Hackleburg, Alabama, where Sonny James was laid to rest, and reflects on the man and the hometown he loved.

The New York Times remembers Sonny James, the Southern Gentleman whose "Young Love" crossed over to the pop charts and whose 16 consecutive No. 1 singles made history.

Remembering Sonny James, who passed on February 22, 2016 at age 87, with tributes from friends and a look at the career that made him a country music legend.

Nashville's historic RCA Studio A, spared from demolition, celebrates its 50th anniversary as fans walk the halls where so much country music was made.

Sonny's 1963 return to Capitol Records, the influence of Nat King Cole on his sound, and the start of the era that produced his legendary run of No. 1 hits.

"The Minute You're Gone" began as a 1963 Sonny James single, then crossed the Atlantic to become a No. 1 hit in the UK for Cliff Richard with nearly the same arrangement.

From 1966 to 1971, Sonny James carried R&B songs into the country mainstream, taking one after another to No. 1 and standing alone as the genre's bridge for years.

Barry Gibb and Sonny James share a moment at the 2013 Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony, and the chart history and friendships that connected the two.

The story of "Young Love," the 1956 Sonny James record that topped the country and pop charts at once, and a jukebox of the many artists who recorded it after him.

A 1995 Nash Country Weekly profile of the Southern Gentleman, from his record run of 16 No. 1 hits in a row to the gentle voice and manner fans remember.

CMT marks Sonny's 2006 Country Music Hall of Fame induction with a look back at the hits, the harmonies and the quiet dignity behind one of country music's great careers.