Country Pop Bites: Ricky Van Shelton – May 3

Did you know that on this day in Country Music History in 2006 Ricky Van Shelton wrote an open letter to his fans announcing he was retiring from the road?

It's true! He insisted that he and wife Bettye were in good health, but simply says they  "need to be close to our families" in Virginia.

Check out this Ricky Van Shelton video!

Here are 5 interesting truths about Ricky Van Shelton.

• He was born on January 12, 1952 in Danville, Virginia, but grew up in Grit, Virginia.
• Van is Ricky’s middle name.
• In 1984, Bettye Witt, his girlfriend at the time (and, since August 4, 1986, wife) found a job in Nashville, Tennessee, and Shelton went along with her.
• Shelton wrote a series of Children’s books. The first two titles of his books were, Tales From a Duck Named Quacker and Quacker Meets Mrs. Moo. The series also contains “Quacker meets Canadian goose” and were all illustrated by Shan Williams Burklow.
• In May 2006, Ricky announced that he would be retiring from touring to spend more time with his family.