On this day in 1968, country music changed forever. A rising artist named Conway Twitty — still considered by many to be an outsider transitioning from rock ’n’ roll into country — scored his very first #1 hit on the country charts with the haunting, beautifully restrained classic “Next In Line.”
What most people don’t realize is that this milestone didn’t just mark the beginning of a legendary run of chart-toppers. It was also the moment the country world finally accepted the man behind one of the most famous stage names in music history — a name with an origin story so unbelievable that fans are still repeating it today.
The Song That Quietly Opened the Door
“Next In Line” wasn’t flashy, loud, or showy. It wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, it was a song built on longing, patience, and the painful hope that love might return someday. Conway sang it with the kind of emotional discipline that would become his signature — soft, measured, and devastating.
In a decade when many male artists leaned heavily into bravado or heartbreak theatrics, Conway did the opposite. He held back. He let the silence between phrases speak just as loudly as the words themselves. And that quiet honesty connected deeply with listeners across the country.
The song climbed to the top, marking the first of 40 country #1s — a record only a handful of artists in history have come close to touching.
And Then There’s the Name…
To new fans discovering him in 1968, “Conway Twitty” sounded like the perfect country stage name — lyrical, memorable, and loaded with character. But the truth behind it? Almost no one believed it when Conway first told the story.
Born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in Friars Point, Mississippi, he spent weeks trying to create the perfect professional name. He pored over maps, searching for something that felt musical, original, and unmistakably Southern.
Finally, he spotted two small towns — Conway, Arkansas, and Twitty, Texas — and paired them together.
And just like that, Conway Twitty was born.
Some thought he was joking. Others assumed the label invented it. But fans today still smile at the idea that one of the greatest voices in country music came from a moment of geographical inspiration and a dream big enough to fill a highway.
A Legacy Launched by a Quiet, Powerful Song
“Next In Line” wasn’t just Conway’s first #1. It was the beginning of a new era — the moment when country radio finally realized the remarkable storyteller entering its gates.
From that day in 1968 forward, Conway Twitty would deliver hit after hit, heartbreak after heartbreak, ballad after ballad, until his voice became one of the most recognizable in American music.
And it all began with a softly sung confession, a map on a table, and a name no one ever forgot.