BENEFIT SALUTE TO ERNEST TUBB

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe head a group of country music stars scheduled to gather tonight to commemorate the birthday of the late Ernest Tubb.

The stars will perform on a special version of the “Midnight Jamboree” radio show, which Tubb started in 1947 to follow the Grand Ole Opry broadcast.

The event is being held to raise money for the Ernest Tubb Memorial Fund, set up to help research into emphysema treatment.

Tubb, who died of emphysema last Sept. 6, would have turned 71 today. Known as the Texas Troubadour, Tubb pioneered the “honky-tonk” sound of country music. His most famous hits include “I’m Walking the Floor Over You” and “Waltz Across Texas.”