Conway Twitty Birthplace — Helena, Arkansas

Conway Twitty — Harold Lloyd Jenkins — was born on September 1, 1933, in Friars Point, Mississippi, and grew up in Helena, Arkansas, on the Mississippi River. Helena was a blues town — the King Biscuit Time radio show broadcast from there, and the Delta blues tradition was the air Twitty breathed growing up. He initially pursued rock and roll, scoring a major hit with 'It's Only Make Believe' in 1958 before pivoting to country music in the early 1960s — a career change that produced more number one country singles than any other artist in history.

Twitty's country career was built on a smooth, sensual baritone and a willingness to record romantic, often explicitly adult material that pushed country radio's limits. His partnership with Loretta Lynn produced some of the finest country duets of the 1970s — 'After the Fire Is Gone,' 'Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man' — and his 'Hello Darlin'' became one of country's most recognisable opening lines. His Twitty City tourist attraction in Hendersonville, Tennessee, was a testament to his commercial success and his connection to his fanbase.

Helena, Arkansas, is on the Mississippi River in Phillips County — a historic Delta town with deep connections to the blues through the King Biscuit Blues Festival held there annually. A Mississippi Blues Trail marker acknowledges Helena's musical heritage more broadly. Twitty died in Springfield, Missouri, in June 1993. His Hendersonville home and the broader Nashville area are where his country career was centred.