Conway Twitty In 1965 at Tony Mart's nightclub in Summer's Point, NJ, Twitty put down his guitar, walked off stage, and made his move into the "Country" arena. Birth Name: Harold Lloyd Jenkins Induction Year: 1993 Date of Birth: 9/1/1933 Place of Birth: Friars Point, MS Date of Death: 6/4/1993 Place of Death: Springfield, MO       Education: High School--Central High School (Helena, AR) (from 1952-1953) Career Milestones: early 1940s--formed his own group, The Phillips County Ramblers, when he was 10 years old early 1950s--joined service band the Cimmarons in Japan when he was in the Army 1956--entered the music scene playing rock 'n roll; "Born to Sing the Blues" first of 8 unreleased songs recorded on Sun label 1958--had his first #1 hit, "It's Only Make Believe" 1960--began writing country songs 1965--switched from pop to country music 1965--signed by Owen Bradley as a country recording artist on MCA/Decca 1970--received a Grammy nomination as songwriter of "Hello Darlin' (also received a nomination in the same category in 1971) 1975--moved from Oklahoma City to Nashville 1982--opened Twitty City 1985--50th #1 hit released, "Don't Call Him a Cowboy" 1987--returned to MCA 1990--recorded and released his 55th #1 single, "Crazy In Love"; stayed on the charts for 5 months 1993--his last album, "Final Touches" released after his death Awards: 1958--Cashbox\Most Promising Top Male Vocalist 1970--NSAI\Certificate of Outstanding Achievement 1970--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Country Song\Hello Darlin' 1970--Billboard\Country Award\Best Single\Hello Darlin' 1971--NARAS\Grammy\After the Fire Is Gone\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1971--ACM\Top Vocal Duet or Group\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1971--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1972--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1972--CMA\Vocal Duo of the Year\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1972--Billboard\Country Award\Best Overall Singles Artist MCA\Decca 1973--Billboard\Country Award\Best Overall Singles Artist 1973--Billboard\Country Award\Best Duo-Albums\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1973--Billboard\Country Award\Best Male Artist 1973--Billboard\Top Country Single\You've Never Been This Far Before 1973--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1973--CMA\Vocal Duo of the Year\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1974--Billboard\Country Award\Best Duo-Albums\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1974--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Male Artist/Vocalist 1974--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1974--American Music Awards\Favorite Country Duo\Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn 1974--CMA\Vocal Duo of the Year\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn   1975--ACM\Album of the Year\Feelin's 1975--ACM\Male Vocalist of the Year 1975--ACM\Top Vocal Group\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1975--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Male Vocalist 1975--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Single\Linda On My Mind 1975--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1975--CMA\Vocal Duo of the Year\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1975--Billboard\Country Award\Best Duo or Group-Albums\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1975--Billboard\Country Award\Best Male Artist 1975--Billboard\Country Award\Best Duo\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1975--Tree International\Golden Tree Award (writer)\Don't Cry Joni, Touch the Hand, Linda On My Mind 1976--Tree International\Golden Tree Award (writer)\I Can't Believe She Gives It All To Me 1976--ACM\Top Vocal Group\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1976--American Music Awards\Favorite Country Duo\Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn 1976--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Male Vocalist 1976--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1977--Tree International\Golden Tree Award (writer)\I've Already Loved You In My Mind 1977--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Male Vocalist 1977--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1977--American Music Awards\Favorite Country Duo\Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn 1977--American Music Awards\Favorite Male Vocalist 1977--Billboard\Country Award\Singles Artist of the Year 1977--Billboard\Country Award\Best Duo or Group-Albums\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1977--Billboard\Country Award\Singles Male Artist of the Year 1977--Tree International\Million Airs Club Award\It's Only Make Believe 1977--BMI\Special Citation of Achievement For Over 1,000,000 Performances\It's Only Make Believe, (Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date, Hello Darlin' 1977--American Music Awards\Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group 1978--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\Male Artist of the Year 1978--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\#1 Duet\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1978--NSAI\Certificate in Honor of Creative Genius In Words and Music 1978--Tree International\Certificate of Achievement (writer)\It's Only Make Believe 1978--American Music Awards\Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group 1978--American Music Awards\Favorite Male Artist 1980--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\Duet of the Year\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1981--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\Duet of the Year\Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn 1982--Billboard\Country Award\Top Male Artist 1982--Billboard\Country Award\Top Singles Artist 1983--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\TV Special of the Year\Conway Twitty on the Mississippi 1988--Music City News\Popularity Poll Award\Living Legend Award Catalog Highlights Hello Darlin' Artists: Conway Twitty (1970) (Lying Here With) Linda On My Mind Artists: Conway Twitty (1975) You've Never Been This Far Before Artists: Conway Twitty (1973) I Can't Believe She Gives It All To Me Artists: Conway Twitty (1976) I Can't See Me Without You Artists: Conway Twitty (1971) I've Already Loved You In My Mind Artists: Conway Twitty (1977) (Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date Co-writer: Floyd Cramer Artists: Conway Twitty (1972) Baby's Gone Artists: Conway Twitty (1973) I'm Not Through Loving You Yet Artists: Conway Twitty (1974) The Letter Artists: Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn (1976) Play, Guitar Play Artists: Conway Twitty (1977) After All the Good Is Gone Artists: Conway Twitty (1976) The Games That Daddies Play Artists: Conway Twitty (1976) Touch The Hand of the Man Artists: Conway Twitty (1975) As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone Artists: Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn (1974) Don't Cry Joni Artists: Conway Twitty (1975) Comments: After high school, Twitty was offered a contract to play professional baseball with the Philadelphia Phillies, but before he could sign, he was drafted by the U.S. Army Received 23 BMI performance awards, 8 ASCAP performance awards, and 20 SESAC performance awards Received a Special Citation of Achievement Award from BMI for over 2,000,000 performances of "It's Only Make Believe" Changed his name in 1957 (Conway from Conway, Arkansas; Twitty from Twitty, Texas)