Conway Twitty

Born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, singer Conway Twitty took his stage name after the towns of Conway, Arkansas, and Twitty, Texas. ∙ Soon after performing his first song on the radio at age 10, he began hosting his own weekly radio show and started a band, The Phillips County Ramblers. ∙ An aspiring pro baseball player drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, he had to put his plans on hold after being called to serve in the Army during the Korean War. ∙ Twitty accumulated a staggering 55 No. 1 hits during his career—a record eventually broken by George Strait. ∙ Frequent duet partners Twitty and Loretta Lynn won the Country Music Association’s Vocal Duo of the Year award four times, as well as a Grammy Award for the No. 1 hit “After the Fire Is Gone.” ∙ Astronaut Thomas Stafford personally asked Twitty to rerecord “Hello Darlin’” in Russian for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, which brought together astronauts from the US and Soviet Union. ∙ In the ’80s, he built a tourist attraction called Twitty City, featuring amusement park rides, museums, shops, music venues, and his own mansion, which was known for its lavish holiday decor. ∙ He’s a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.