“Forever Country” Creators Receive RIAA Plaques During CMA Fest

CMA Board Chairman and Senior Vice President of Programming and Artist Relations for Opry Entertainment and General Manager of the Grand Ole Opry Sally Williams (third from left) gathers with (L-R) “Forever Country” co-arranger Josh Osborne, producer Shane McAnally, music video producers Joanna Carter and Chandra LaPlume, and CMA Chief Marketing Officer Damon Whiteside following a special panel during CMA Music Festival.
Photo Credit: Donn Jones / CMA

The success of “Forever Country” was recognized Saturday (June 10) during CMA Fest as producer Shane McAnally and co-arranger Josh Osborne received plaques celebrating RIAA Gold certification of the chart-topping, award-winning single created to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the CMA Awards.

The plaques were presented by Damon Whiteside, CMA Chief Marketing Officer, and Sally Williams, CMA Board Chairman and Senior Vice President/Programming and Artist Relations for Opry Entertainment and General Manager of the Grand Ole Opry, following the “Making of a Mash Up – A Close Up Look at CMA’s Forever Country” panel at XFINITY Fan Fair X during the CMA Music Festival.

The hit single, which is a medley of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” and Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” featured 30 CMA Award-winning acts. The song is one of only three songs in history to debut at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, and soared to No. 1 on U.S. and international sales and streaming charts.

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Lorie Hollabaugh

Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.

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