7 days ago
Revisiting the most notorious Nashville stories of the past 25 years
We remember the dirt, the tea, the stunning details of stories that became permanently fixed in time.
In our current century, Nashville has been shaped by huge stories that got under our skin, went viral, blew up. Are there water coolers anymore? We used to gather around them in the office (are there offices?) and share the sometimes-salacious details.
We remember when Taylor Swift took on Scooter Braun, when Megan Barry endured public shame, when Steve McNair was murdered. It is not a stretch to say people will be talking about the time Morgan Wallen threw a chair off a building for years to come.
If you've been paying attention at all in Tennessee, you may easily recognize the stories: There was a wayward judge, a plane crash, some drunken exploits and a sex scandal or two.
These weren't necessarily the most important stories of the year, but they were captivating. They made you ask questions. Wait, what happened? How on earth? Did you see the latest?
We couldn't look away from the unforgettable. We had to know the deets.
No Nashvillian will forget the Christmas Day bombing, the Tennessee Waltz (which wasn't a song) or the Tennessee Three (not Johnny Cash's band). These sordid stories are as good as old calendars. We remember what we were doing when they happened.
There were missing persons, environmental disasters and a band got canceled before "canceled" became the word we would use to describe what happened to them.
The staff at The Tennessean went into the archives to pull out the biggest headlines from the past 25 years, and the most Notorious Nashville stories from each year will be unveiled this summer one at a time.
The memories of these stories may stir embarrassment, anger, tears or gasps.
They will always make for interesting dinner-party conversation.
2000: Janet March ruled dead, focus turns to husband
2001: Fatal Greyhound bus crash near Manchester led to national shutdown
2002: Peyton Manning defamation lawsuit challenged former Vol's image
2003: Country music cancels The Chicks, still 'Not Ready to Make Nice'
2004: Fallon Tallent trial for 2 officer deaths shook Wilson County
2005: Major political scandal led to ethics reform in Tennessee
2006: Killing by preacher's wife pushes small town into national spotlight
2007: The murder case that shocked Knoxville, incited white supremacists
2008: Toxic sludge swallowed a TN town. Years of illness, lawsuits followed
2009: Why ex-Titans QB Steve McNair's death was so shocking
2010: Why Lane Kiffin's Tennessee departure rocked Knoxville
2011: Why Holly Bobo's case changed a TN county forever
2012: Scott DesJarlais: Scandal couldn't sink notoriously troubled candidate
2013: How the 2013 Vanderbilt rape case stunned the city
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Revisit Nashville's most notorious stories of the past 25 years
