Country Music Industry Loses A Great Artist

By Michael Tipper



(Photo Courtesy of WSMV)

     Country music has lost a great legend. Singer George "Possum" Jones died on April 26 after battling an illness at the age of 81. In a career that spanned nearly 6 decades, he has recorded sixty studio albums and has produced many hits such as White Lightning, He Stopped Loving Her, Walk Through This World with Me, The Grand Tour, I Always Get Lucky With You, and Tennessee Whiskey among others. He also did collaborations with other country artists such as Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, The Oak Ridge Boys, Sammy Kershaw, Alan Jackson, and Dolly Parton. News of his death shook the country music industry really hard. Many artist shared some of their thoughts on his passing.

Dolly Parton:  "My heart is absolutely broken. George Jones was my all time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world. My heart goes out to Nancy and the rest of his family."

Merle Haggard:  The world may have lost the greatest country singer that ever lived.

Alan Jackson:  “Well, heaven better get ready for some great country music. While George was known for his wild and crazy days, I’ve known him for 25 years as a friend. He had grown into a real good man. Of course, he will always be the greatest singer and interpreter of real country music – there’ll never be another. Like the song says, ‘You know this old world is full of singers, but just a few are chosen to tear your heart out when they sing. Imagine life without them…Who’s gonna fill their shoes.’”

Here is Keith Urban paying his respect to George Jones.

http://youtu.be/Rl3zShXmKrg

News of George's death even stuck a blow to me. I grew up listening to many of his song and he was a big part of my childhood. There will never be another musician who can fill the big shoes that he has left behind.