This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2008. Events April 27 – A story in the New York Daily News reported a possible long-term relationship between Mindy McCready and baseball star Roger Clemens that began when she was 15 years old. Though Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, acknowledged that McCready was a "close family friend," Hardin denied the affair and threatened to bring a defamation suit against him. However, McCready would state that the relationship was sexual, and spoke about her affair with Clemens in more detail on the November 17 broadcast of Inside Edition. May 15 – People Magazine reported Canadian singer Shania Twain and her husband, music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, had separated after 14 years of marriage. The couple were married on December 28, 1993, after Twain met Lange at Nashville's Fan Fair earlier in the year. May 23 – Anne Murray performs her final concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and retires from show business. June 14 – Sara Evans and radio show host/former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker are married in Franklin, Tennessee, with their children as their attendants. November 11 – Country music superstar Reba McEntire departs her longtime record label MCA Nashville, after 24 years and signed to The Valory Music Co., sister label to Big Machine Records. McEntire and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta had previously worked together in the 1990s when Borchetta was senior president of promotion for MCA Nashville. November 20 – Julianne Hough announces that she would not be returning for the foreseeable future to Dancing with the Stars in order to further her country music career. December 7 – The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honors George Jones for his lifetime contributions to the arts. December 18 – Equity Music Group, a label owned by Clint Black, closes after five years in operation. Top hits of the year The following songs placed within the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs or Canada Country charts in 2008: Top new album releases The following albums placed within the Top 50 on the Top Country Albums charts in 2008: Other top albums Deaths January 6 – Ken Nelson, 96, record producer for artists including Hank Thompson, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and many others. April 22 – Paul Davis, 60, crossover artist whose collaborations with Marie Osmond and Tanya Tucker reached