1975 was a very big year for John Denver. His song, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” was a Billboard crossover hit, hitting No. 1 on both the country and Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1975.
At the Grand Ole Opry's Country Music Association Awards that fall, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” was nominated for Single of the Year, but it lost to Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.”
Still, Denver received an even bigger honor when he won the CMA’s biggest award of the night: Entertainer of the Year. Denver, who was best known as a folk singer, won the coveted award over fellow nominees Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, Ronnie Milsap, and Conway Twitty.
Denver’s win over four country music heavy hitters was announced by Charlie Rich, who had been voted the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year for 1974. But the "Behind Closed Doors” singer went shockingly off-script as he read Denver’s name.
At the October 1975 ceremony, Rich ripped open the envelope, then reached into his pocket for a cigarette lighter. He then stunned the audience as he lit the card on fire and said, "The winner…is my friend Mr. John Denver.”
A smiling Denver appeared via satellite to accept the award, oblivious to Rich’s onstage antics.
According to Rolling Stone, following the shocking incident, Rich was backlisted from future CMA shows.
Fifty years later, the live TV moment is still talked about online.
On the r/country subreddit in September 2025, one commenter wrote, “Denver received mainstream success, but was never truly accepted by the country music establishment as a country artist.”
“Thank God I’m a country boy!” LOL! Because he wasn’t. But he was a gifted songwriter,” another agreed.
Another Reddit user added, “Charlie’s son later explained that his father had nothing particularly against John Denver — he was just drunk. Denver himself had the good sense not to attend the awards.”
Charlie Rich Said The CMA Incident Was Nothing Against John Denver
Rich addressed the scandal in a 1992 interview with NPR, where he explained that the move was not anything against Denver.
“It's kind of strange,” Rich said. “There were a lot of people asking me if it was a form of rebellion or what have you or something of that nature or if I didn't like John Denver or if - but actually, that wasn't the situation at all.”The Grammy-winning singer added that backstage at the awards show was “pretty hectic,” which threw him off. “And I guess my anxiety-panic disorder kicked in or something,” he explained. "But there was no intent as far as trying to make a statement. It was just kind of a mistake that, you know, that I've done, I've made a few before. … Maybe I was rebelling, but not against John Denver and not against country music. I just, like I say, it was just a mistake that I made."Rich, who died in 1995 at age 62, added that in the aftermath of the scandal, he changed producers and record labels to break himself free of the country genre. His final album was the 1992 jazz album Pictures and Paintings.
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