Jack Meoff
Mopar Maniac
*George Jones**, known as "the greatest voice in country music," died today at a Nashville Hospital after being hospitalized last week with a fever and irregular blood pressure, his publicist said today. He was 81 years old.
Born into a modest household in Saratoga, Texas, Jones went on to 143 Top 40 country hits; fourteen went to Number One, beginning with 1959's "White Lightning," and they continued through the decades including "She Thinks I Still Care and "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Sinatra called him "the second greatest singer in America." Keith Richards calls him "a national treasure." "Most people's voices are a gift from God," Garth Brooks once said. "With George Jones, I think it started out as a gift from God and then they built a body around it because anybody who has ever wanted to sing country music wants to sound like George Jones."
100 Greatest Singers of All Time: George Jones**
Jones had an epic career, and his offstage escapades often threatened to overshadow his accomplishments. He missed dozens of shows in the late Seventies (living up to his nickname "No Show Jones"), and in 1979 his addictions landed him in an Alabama psychiatric hospital. In 1980, he led police on a televised chase through Nashville. In 1999, he crashed his car into a Nashville bridge and nearly died. "Through it all I kept reading articles that said I was the greatest country singer alive," he wrote in his 1996 memoir. "And singers I respect were constantly saying that too. I was always appreciative, but I never understood how such a supposedly good singer could be such a troubled person. My talent, though it brought me fame and fortune, never brought me peace of mind."
But Jones never lost his ability to deliver heartbreaking country classics. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, and was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2008 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award last year. He was in the process of ending his seven-decade career Grand Tour. His final Nashville concert, planned for November 22nd, was the cornerstone of the tour, with fans like Keith Richards, Jamey Johnson, Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, Kenny Rogers and more.
Jones is survived by Nancy Jones, his wife of 30 years, his sister Helen Scroggins and children, grandchildren, nices and nephews.
Rest in peace Possum.
Born into a modest household in Saratoga, Texas, Jones went on to 143 Top 40 country hits; fourteen went to Number One, beginning with 1959's "White Lightning," and they continued through the decades including "She Thinks I Still Care and "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Sinatra called him "the second greatest singer in America." Keith Richards calls him "a national treasure." "Most people's voices are a gift from God," Garth Brooks once said. "With George Jones, I think it started out as a gift from God and then they built a body around it because anybody who has ever wanted to sing country music wants to sound like George Jones."
100 Greatest Singers of All Time: George Jones**
Jones had an epic career, and his offstage escapades often threatened to overshadow his accomplishments. He missed dozens of shows in the late Seventies (living up to his nickname "No Show Jones"), and in 1979 his addictions landed him in an Alabama psychiatric hospital. In 1980, he led police on a televised chase through Nashville. In 1999, he crashed his car into a Nashville bridge and nearly died. "Through it all I kept reading articles that said I was the greatest country singer alive," he wrote in his 1996 memoir. "And singers I respect were constantly saying that too. I was always appreciative, but I never understood how such a supposedly good singer could be such a troubled person. My talent, though it brought me fame and fortune, never brought me peace of mind."
But Jones never lost his ability to deliver heartbreaking country classics. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, and was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2008 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award last year. He was in the process of ending his seven-decade career Grand Tour. His final Nashville concert, planned for November 22nd, was the cornerstone of the tour, with fans like Keith Richards, Jamey Johnson, Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, Kenny Rogers and more.
Jones is survived by Nancy Jones, his wife of 30 years, his sister Helen Scroggins and children, grandchildren, nices and nephews.
Rest in peace Possum.
