On this date, March 8th, in 1980, Willie Nelson topped the Billboard country charts with “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.”
The song was recorded by Waylon Jennings on the 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws, and further popularized in 1980 by Willie Nelson as a single on the soundtrack to The Electric Horseman. It was written by Sharon Vaughn and Nelson’s version was his fifth number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country chart.