AARP Hearing Center
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LESTER HOLT
I was focused on becoming a radio disc jockey. That’s all I really wanted when I was in high school. I managed to land my first job at a country-and-western station in Sacramento. I did a show on Saturdays and Sundays, midnight to 6 a.m. I didn’t know much about country music, frankly, but I learned some appreciation. Later in life, especially during my years at the Today show, I was able to do a lot of stories with country artists and really became a fan.
An important part of what we do in the news business is stories that people can relate to. Country music also taps into something inside us that will ring familiar about our lives and how we see the world. —As told to Alanna Nash
Lester Holt, 63, is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News and the anchor of Dateline NBC. He also plays bass.
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SISSY SPACEK
Growing up in Texas, I was exposed to progressive country like Jerry Jeff Walker and Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. The ’60s and ’70s were so rich for all kinds of music, and I dabbled in all of it. But I was naive about the roots of country music. It wasn’t until I met Loretta [Lynn] and started to work with her and go to the Grand Ole Opry that I really listened to country music.
Country music is a melting pot. It comes from all over. Its influence is deep, and it’s so American. I believe that we need it to bring our country together. —A.N.
Sissy Spacek, 72, won an Oscar for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in the 1980 film Coal Miner’s Daughter and recorded the album Hangin’ Up My Heart in 1983. Her next projects are the Prime Video series Night Sky and the movie Sam & Kate.
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SENATOR JONI ERNST
I have a deep connection with Toby Keith’s “American Soldier” because that was the song that was played when I got back home from my deployment as I led my company into Red Oak High School in Montgomery County. We were in formation. Children were running down onto the floor to hug their moms and dads. This song was playing, and I will remember that time forever.
I feel that country music is probably the one genre that has really spoken to those that have served. There are songs that make me want to pull off on the side of the road sometimes and cry because they talk about love of country, and sometimes they speak to the incredible loss that families have gone through. I don’t know of any other genres that really talk about the patriotism and the pain that go with wearing a uniform. —As told to Jim Lenahan
Senator Joni Ernst, who turns 52 in July, is a Republican from Iowa. She also served as a company commander for the Iowa National Guard in Kuwait and Iraq during the Iraq War.
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TERRY BRADSHAW
Celebrating Country Music
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My earliest recollection of music is when we went to my mother’s parents’ home, which was a farm in Holsum, Louisiana. We had a battery-operated radio, and on Saturday nights we would all gather in this little den. I would lie on the floor at my grandfather’s feet and use his leg as a pillow, and we would listen to the Grand Ole Opry.
Sometimes on Saturdays us boys would climb in the wagon, and the horses would take us on a gravel road or a dirt road, and we’d go to Slim’s Barbershop — everybody, all the kids, the uncles, we’d all pile in there — and they would have the Grand Ole Opry on in there and there would always be discussions, like, “Man, that guy can sing.”
You know what? I’ve been asked this a few times: If I could switch my life, what would I be? I’d want to write songs and perform, because that’s something you can do your entire life. —As told to Jeffrey Lee Puckett
Former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw, 73, has recorded country albums and continues to tour and perform. He’s also an NFL analyst for Fox Sports and a cohost of Fox NFL Sunday, and appears on the reality show The Bradshaw Bunch on E!
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