Before we look forward to 2025, let’s look back at 2024 and remember the important individuals we lost, from huge superstars, to songwriters and side players. They all contributed to the music we love, and deserve to be remembered.
Please note: Every effort was expended to make sure most everyone was included here, and any potential omissions are purely accidental. If you happen to see someone you believe belongs here, please feel free to speak up in the comments section below for the benefit of us all.
Larry Collins – January 5th – Age 79
He wrote “You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma,” which hit #1 for David Frizzell and Shelly West, and was also nominated for the CMA’s Song of the Year. He wrote “Home” with Mac Davis, which was recorded by Nancy Sinatra before Mac himself had a hit with it. He also wrote Tanya Tucker’s signature song “Delta Dawn” with songwriter Alex Harvey, which shot a 13-year-old Tanya into stardom. But before any of this, Larry Collins had his own career as a child prodigy that helped influence country and rock n’ roll on a grand scale.
Paired with his sister, they became known as The Collins Kids. They signed to Columbia Records and released numerous singles such as “Hop, Skip and Jump” and “Hoy Hoy.” In 1956 when the Grand Ole Opry made its first televised broadcast, The Collins Kids appeared as guests. Tex Ritter’s Ranch Party TV show found syndication in the late ’50’s, beaming The Collins Kids into homes nationwide. (read more)
Jo-El Sonnier – January 13th – Age 77
Grammy-winning country and Cajun singer, and accordion and guitar player Jo-El Sonnier was a true keeper of the flame in American roots music, and a rare soul who put the preservation of the music before anything else. From the Top 10 of the country music charts to the annals of regional roots, Jo-El Sonnier was beloved by many. An autistic performer before much of the world even knew what that meant, he persevered through personal struggles to become a star while always putting the music first.
As cliché as it may sound, it’s nonetheless true that Jo-El Sonnier died doing what he loved to do, which was performing and meeting fans. After spending Friday at the Heart of Texas Country Music Museum in Brady, Sonnier played the Llano Country Opry in Llano, Texas Saturday evening, January 13th. After an hour-long set that ended with his signature rendition of the song “Tear-Stained Letter,” he came out to play an encore of “Jambalaya” by Hank Williams.
After the show, Jo-El Sonnier took a moment to rest before he was scheduled to sign autographs. It was then that he suffered cardiac arrest. (read more)
Billy Cook
Known for working with band such as Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies and the .357 String Band, Billy Cook was considered an essential player in the underground country and roots scene that exploded in the late 00’s leading into the 2010’s. He was also a singer and songwriter who played with his own band as well.
Billy Cook had been a guitarist for many years and was performing with the band Corrine Rose when he was picked up as a primary player in the Outlaw Carnies behind underground country artist Bob Wayne. While playing a show in Sturgis in 2007, he first rubbed elbows with the .357 String Band outfit. In June of 2009 when the .357 String Band parted ways mandolin player Jayke Orvis, Billy Cook joined the band full time, touring with them and appearing on their 2010 album Lightning from the North. (read more)
Margo Smith – January 23rd – Age 84
“The Tennessee Yodeler” is what she came to be known as due to her strong yodeling skills, though she was born and raised on a farm outside of Dayton, Ohio. From a very early age, she wanted to be a performer after watching the Midwestern Hayride out of nearby Cincinnati. She quickly perfected a yodel, which became the foundation for her singing style.
Margo Smith’s greatest success came in 1978 with her album Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You, which saw the title track and “It Only Hurt For a Little While” both hit #1 in country. “Little Things Mean a Lot” also went to #3 from the album. Though Smith recorded cover songs from both country and pop, she was also a songwriter herself, and found success with original compositions. (read more)
Toby Keith – February 5th – Age 62
Toby Keith was a country music star, and one of the most important and successful to ever do it. In the first decade of the 2000’s, there was no country music artist that was more commercially successful than Toby Keith, both as an entertainer, and as a businessman. Keith put 20 #1 singles on the charts during an eight year run, and had another seven #2’s during this same period. Toby Keith was mainstream country music in the aughts.
Toby Keith was an American, and perhaps one of the most outspoken, supportive, and high profile champions of the American ideal and those who were sworn to protect it in flesh and blood than anyone else in public life. Like so many Americans enraged about the sucker punch of September 11th, 2001, Keith put those emotions into song in ways that embodied the very emotions people felt, and in paramount and unprecedented ways, pushing the envelope of acceptable parlance.
But most importantly, Toby Keith was a human. This was brought into stark contrast recently after years of slowly fading away from the country spotlight like so often happens with aging country stars, while also slowly deteriorating due to the ravages of stomach Cancer. The illness took a man who was once a tower of a person to just a frail, hollowed-out version of his previous boisterous self, putting Toby Keith’s humanness on full display for both his supporters and detractors to see in ways that drew sincere concern and empathy across cultural and political divides. (read more)
Mojo Nixon – February 7th – Age 66
There was nobody else like Mojo Nixon in music, and there was no lane for what he did when he set out. Despite being his own worst enemy and a publicist’s worst nightmare, Mojo Nixon still somehow made his way through the world to become a cult icon who was revered from the underground of country, to the rockabilly and rock world, to the West Coast punk scene. He was an American original, testing the limits of decency.
Despite the lyrics being edgy and oddball, Mojo had an underlying anti-commerialization and anti-celebrity worship message to his music that made his career a bit more intellectual then one might glean from the surface. What Mojo was most known for recently was as a DJ on Sirius XM’s Outlaw channel.
Mojo Nixon’s passing happened in close proximity to close friends and fellow musicians on the Outlaw Country Cruise who revered the musician, DJ, emcee, and general crazy man as a legend and an icon. (read more)
Dex Romweber – February 16th – Age 57
In music, one way you can break down musicians is by classifying them as either originators, or imitators. Both originators and imitators are necessary in the music world. The imitators are the ones that can take the originator’s ideas and make them accessible, present them to the masses, mix music from different originators together, and popularize styles, because sometimes the originators are too untamed, too avant-garde for mass consumption.
Someone people might finger as an originator of music is the widely-influential artist and producer Jack White, but even Jack can be broken down further. If you follow his influences, where you’ll end up is a handful of artists, including an early 90’s band called The Flat Duo Jets, and their frontman Dexter Romweber, who went on to very directly influence the formation of The White Stripes, The Black Keys, and the emergence of the two-person power duo. (read more)
Roni Stoneman – February 22nd – Age 85
Stoneman played a Gibson RB-250 Bow Tie banjo, and had her own technique that combined strong Scruggs-like fingerpicking with occasional frailing to emphasize certain phrases. Even when performing traditional country and bluegrass tunes, she always brought an element of humor to her performances.
Though her banjo skills would be highlighted on Hee-Haw for 18 years, it really was Roni’s hilarious character study into the nagging housewife and desperate spinster that put her on the map for many. Ida Lee Nagger with her gap teeth and ribbon tied in her hair became a fixture and favorite in the Hee-Haw cast opposite husband Lavern played by Gordie Tapp. Stoneman even would appear in other segments as Ida Lee not directly affiliated with the character.
Roni Stoneman wasn’t just the First Lady of the Banjo, she was also one of the last surviving members of the Stoneman legacy in country music. (read more)
W.C. Clark – March 2nd – Age 84
There are few guys whose legacies loom larger in Austin, TX than blues guitar legend W.C. Clark. Though the blues is where he resided, his influence ran like a vein throughout all the music originating in the Live Music Capital of the World, and resonated worldwide as that influence was carried through the cast of musical characters that calls Austin home. Now W.C. Clark has been called home himself, leaving a legacy behind that won’t soon be forgotten.
Along with Lou Ann Barton, W.C. Clark and Stevie Ray Vaughan would form the now legendary Triple Threat Revue in September of 1977, which was a blues explosion in Austin, and set the standard for the Austin blues scene. Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan weren’t W.C. Clark’s only protégé’s. Brothers Will and Charlie Sexton also became big acolytes of the W.C. Clark sound, with Charlie Sexton carrying that influence on as a producer and a mainstay in the band of Bob Dylan, speaking to W.C. Clark’s far-reaching impact. (read more)
Brit Turner – March 3rd – Age 57
The heartbeat of Blackberry Smoke, Brit Turner, had been suffering from major health issues, from a heart attack in 2022, to a diagnosis of an aggressive glioblastoma brain tumor in November of 2022 and subsequent brain surgery. On Sunday evening, March 3rd, Blackberry Smoke announced that Brit Turner had passed away.
Along with being a founding member of the band since its inception in 2000, Brit Turner was the actual brother of Blackberry Smoke bass player Richard Turner, and was also considered the big brother to everyone in the band. He was also the band’s de facto historian, chronicling the band all along the way. Brit kept collections of all the accolades, accomplishments, tour posters, credentials, and everything else from the band’s lineage.
Despite Brit Turner’s dire diagnosis, he continued to play with the band live, even while receiving therapy. The death of Brit Turner leaves a crater of a hole in Blackberry Smoke, Southern rock, and the greater country and roots world. (read more)
Malcolm Holcombe – March 9th – Age 68
There are those musicians whose songs and influence work like the scaffolding holding up the facade of American roots. We’re not talking about the past legends that everyone still knows the name of. We’re talking about the songwriters who work in the shadows and always have, because they cower from the spotlight, self-sabotage whenever success starts to come within their grasp, and would never feel comfortable in their own skin if their sound reached beyond the four walls of dingy listening rooms in backwater locations.
Malcolm Holcombe was one of these elemental songwriters. Too raw, authentic, and unpolished for the spotlight, but a spellbinding influence on many who gladly step into it, he was the origin of multiple sounds and approaches to what today we label as Americana music. Even when he was young he sounded old. Even in health he seemed to be ravaged with sickness. Holcombe was like the very hills and valleys, roots, rocks, soil and branches singing out, if you were patient and quiet enough to hear them, and knew where to seek out their audience. (read more)
Brother Dege – March 9th – Age 56
With his bluesy voice and resonator guitar, Dege Legg who went by the stage name Brother Dege combined strong roots influences from blues and country with swampy sounds heavily influenced by his home state of Louisiana. Brother Dege rocketed to national stardom when director Quentin Tarantino decided to use his song “Too Old to Die Young” in a pivotal scene in the landmark film Django Unchained from 2012. The song and the rest of the soundtrack went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.”
Legg was the lead singer for the rock band Santeria for a decade before moving to Los Angeles in 2004 to pursue a recording contract. When that didn’t pan out, he returned to Lafayette and played guitar in the band of well-known Louisiana musician C.C. Adcock, as well as another band called Black Bayou Construkt. It was the Django Unchained opportunity that allowed Brother Dege to pursue his own music full time. (read more)
Erv Woolsey & Gene Elders – March 20th
The community of players, managers, and personnel around George Strait is a small, close-knit family. It’s been the loyalty and continuity of the George Strait camp for going on 45+ years has placed “King” George at the very pinnacle of the country genre for the lion’s share of that period. That is why the loss of not just one, but two of Strait’s most loyal and long-serving compadres on the same day created a double dose of tragedy no music community should ever have to endure.
If you want to go back in time and point to one man who was primarily responsible for putting George Strait on the path to country music stardom as a staunch traditionalist from Texas, it would be his manager Erv Woolsey. It all started in 1975 at a bar and dance hall in San Marcos, Texas called The Prairie Rose that Woolsey owned at the time. Immediately impressed by Strait’s voice and his laid-back disposition, he saw a star in the making, and set off to make that happen.
The same year that Woolsey started working for George Strait full-time, fiddle player Gene Elders officially joined George Strait’s legendary Ace in the Hole band. He would quickly become a mainstay on stage with Strait, along with playing in the extended lineup of Lyle Lovett’s Large Band for 11 years. While not on the road, Elders worked as a studio musician, appearing on the albums of Townes Van Zandt, Dale Watson, Lucinda Williams, Kevin Fowler, Joan Baez, and Silverada just to name a few, as well as on studio albums from Lovett and Strait. (read more)
Pat Molak – April 2nd – Age 76
Imagine a Texas music scene without Gruene Hall. It’s difficult to impossible to do. And if it wasn’t for Pat Molak discovering the ruins of an old town just north of New Braunfels, and making it his life’s purpose to preserve it and turn it into something memorable, who knows where Texas music might be. Gruene Hall is the shrine, the epicenter, the Mecca of Texas country.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Pat Molak attended the University of Texas in Austin, though never graduated. What he did get in Austin was first-hand insight into the music scene that was sprouting up in Texas thanks to guys like Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker. After trying his hand unsuccessfully as a stockbroker, he set out to open his own honky tonk to help support and become a part of the burgeoning Texas music scene. (read more)
Jerry Abbott – April 2nd – Age 80
To the rock world, Jerry Abbott was known as the father of heavy metal legends “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and Vinnie Paul Abbott, a.k.a. the lead guitarist and drummer for the heavy metal band Pantera, and later Damageplan. Jerry didn’t just sire the rock legends, he was also Pantera’s first manager, and produced four of their early albums.
But before his sons got into music, Jerry Abbott was a country singer, guitar player, songwriter, and also worked as a producer and engineer in the business. Those well-versed in the Pantera world know that the band had close ties to country music, including through Hank Williams III and David Allan Coe. But it all started with their dad, who not just instilled them with a love for country music, but used his knowledge from the country music business to help the band get their start.
In the late ’70s, Jerry Abbott wrote songs recorded by country performer Danny Wood, and Freddy Fender recorded his song “If You’re Ever in Texas.” Then in 1978, Abbott recorded a couple of singles of his own, “I Want a Little Cowboy” and “Owe It All to You.” Neither of the songs went very far. But in 1979, Abbott co-wrote the song “Play Together Again Again” that became a hit for Buck Owens. (read more)
Dickey Betts – April 18th – Age 80
The world has lost one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Rock and roll has lost a Hall of Famer. Southern rock has lost a founding father. Country music has lost one of its greatest influences. And the Southlands have lost one of its most cherished sons. Like a high ‘E’ string hitting the sweetest note of a soaring harmonious guitar solo, a collective exhalation of sincere grief, but undying gratitude pierces through the din of everyday news to mark the death of the indomitable Dickey Betts.
It wasn’t easy for Dickey Betts to distinguish himself from the throngs of guitar players birthed from the golden era of classic rock, especially when his own band mate was Duane Allman, who achieved God-like status himself before passing away in 1971. But instead of battling at center stage for attention as was the standard of the era, Dickey and Duane harmoniously collaborated, discovering a sound that was greater than the sum of their individual parts, revolutionizing Southern music in an instant, and rock and roll forevermore. (read more)
Duane Eddy – April 30th – Age 86
Duane Eddy died on Wednesday, May 1st after leaving behind a legacy that undoubtedly stands as one of the most influential in the realm of electric guitar in the instrument’s history. Most notably, Duane Eddy is given credit for inventing the guitar tone known as “twang.”
Before there were spring reverb setups in guitar amplifiers, or reverb and echo pedals and effects for players to switch on and off—let alone electronic filters to imitate all of this by a keystroke in the digital realm—it was Duane Eddy and his producer Lee Hazelwood who had to harness this watery, reverberative effect mechanically, improvising the sound from scratch.
Through immediately recognizable songs from the 1950s like “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn,” Eddy revolutionized the sound of electric guitar from the bright and precise playing of the time to something with more body, boldness, and a faraway feel. (read more)
Tom Foote – April 29th – Age 71
Tom Foote goes so far back with George Strait, it was Foote who helped hire George in 1975 to front the San Marcos, TX band called Stoney Ridge. Foote founded Stoney Ridge with bass player Terry Hale, steel guitarist Mike Daily, Ron Cabal on lead guitar, and singer Jay Dominguez at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, now known as Texas State. They played mostly honky tonk and Western Swing covers.
But when singer Jay Dominguez left the band, a search went out for a new singer. An agricultural science student at Southwest Texas named George Strait answered a flyer, and became the new frontman. The Ace in the Hole Band’s first official gig was on October 13, 1975 at the Cheatham Street Warehouse, with Ted Stubblefield on drums. But Tom Foote quickly replaced him later that year. Along with playing drums, Foote was also the de facto manager of the band, booking many of the gigs, and handling the logistics.
Tom Foote would remain Strait’s drummer until 1983 when he was replaced by Roger Montgomery. But Foote stayed on as Strait’s official road manger—a position he held all the way until his death. (read more)
Jim Mills – May 3rd – Age 57
Many have played the banjo in the annals of country, folk, and bluegrass music. Jim Mills lived the banjo.
He was most recognizable as the banjo player in Kentucky Thunder behind Ricky Skaggs for 14 years, starting in the late ’90s up until 2010. Mills also played on 11 Ricky Skaggs albums over that period. Prior to that, Mills spent five years playing in Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. He also did a stint in the bluegrass band Summer Wages at the start of his career, as well as the Bass Mountain Boys between Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs.
Jim Mills would also play banjo for Dolly Parton on her albums Grass Is Blue (1999) and Little Sparrow (2001), along with various other artists and projects throughout the era. Through this time, Jim Mills was considered by most as the premier banjo player of the era, and won the prestigious IBMA Banjo Player of the Year award a record-setting six times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006). (read more)
Mark James – June 8th – Age 83
It really is a shame that songwriters are so relegated to the shadows of popular music when they often play the most seminal role in making the magic that we all love to hear. It’s especially unfortunate here in the streaming era when we’re all yet another step removed from the liner notes, which are sometimes the only recognition these creators receive.
Imagine if you disappeared the legacy of a songwriter like Mark James, and what popular music would sound like, or what it wouldn’t sound like, if he was never around.
Some songwriters amass a master’s catalog of commercial hits, while others go on to only be known for a few select but significantly important compositions. In many respects, both of these things are true for Mark James. He wrote scores of songs for countless artists across the country, rock, and popular music world. But even if you don’t know some of his songs, or even the artists that sang them, everybody knows “Suspicious Minds,” “Always On My Mind,” and “Hooked on a Feeling.” (read more)
Jeremy Tepper – June 14th – Age 60
As a musician, journalist, label owner, and one of the most important people involved in connecting independent country fans with the music they want to hear, it’s going to be hard for the music community to get over the sudden and tragic loss of Jeremy Tepper. It will be even harder to fill his shoes.
Jeremy Tepper was the Program Director behind Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country channel since 2004, not to mention Willie’s Roadhouse and the Road Dog Trucking channel. For 20 years, Tepper was critical to giving a national format to many artists in independent country and Americana that otherwise might not have one. Tepper wasn’t just a figurehead. He was a hands-on curator who also helped book and organize the annual Outlaw Country Cruise.
Jeremy Tepper wore many hats, and lived many lives in the music realm throughout his career. What was a constant was his commitment to try and get cool music to the people. (read more)
Kinky Friedman – June 27th – Age 79
Life is a lot less colorful and kinky. But through the rewiring of our brains, the boundaries and buttons pushed, from the beautiful to the ribald, to the profound and the absolutely absurd, we are all gifted a world that is a little less uptight and a lot more cool, thanks to the incomparable Kinky Friedman.
As a musician, songwriter, iconoclast, poet, writer, politician, and cigar connoisseur, Kinky Friedman couldn’t help but pursue his passions no matter where they took him, and to stir the good kind of trouble whenever he got there. After serving two years in the Peace Corps, Richard Samet Friedman adopted his nickname “Kinky” as a stage name, and founded Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys in 1973— a play off of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.
With songs that went from inappropriate and offensive to politically strident, they immediately started making waves and stirring attention as Austin was quickly becoming the cooler alternative to Nashville. (read more)
Joe Bonsall – July 9th – Age 76
Since 1943, one version or another of The Oak Ridge Boys has been around in country and Gospel music, making them a mainstay of the American musical experience. And since October of 1973, Joe Bonsall had been a part of the group’s most legendary lineup along with Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban, joining the group when he was 25.
The Country Music Hall of Famers and Grand Ole Opry members have always been more of a collective than anything, with all four men bringing that special magic that kept them together for so long, and kept the music and the majesty of their four-part harmonies resonant for half a century.
But if the band had a leader for the last 50 years, it was Joe. It was often Joe who would speak for the group, both from the stage and to the press. It was Joe who had such a personable way that no matter what he was speaking about, you found it agreeable. (read more)
Dave Loggins – July 10th – Age 76
There are some songs that when the last phrase is written and the period is dotted at the end, they immediately become timeless and genre-less due to how expertly they encapsulate a human experience.
For 50 years, “Please Come To Boston” by Dave Loggins has been one of those songs. Written by Loggins himself, it became an easy listening/soft rock #1 hit for him back in 1974, and the song that would go on to define his career. But the country world saw that “Please Come To Boston” was a country song at its heart, and that’s where it would ultimately become a standard.
When both Joan Baez and David Allan Coe released their own version of the song in 1976, it spoke to its far reaching resonance. Coe’s version is where it was arguably most popularized in country. Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Tammy Wynette, B.W. Stevenson, Lee Hazlewood, and later Reba McEntire, Confederate Railroad, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, and Wade Bowen would all cover it as well.
“Please Come To Boston” is clearly the most recognizable song from the Dave Loggins catalog, but some in the sports world may disagree. His instrumental “Augusta,” has been used as the music behind the annual Masters Golf Tournament in Georgia since 1981. (read more)
Jason and Kelly Nelon Clark, Amber Nelon Kistler – July 26th
In an airplane crash on Friday, July 26th, three of the four current members of The Nelons perished. Husband and wife Jason and Kelly Nelon Clark died in the plane crash, along with their daughter, Amber Nelon Kistler. The couple’s youngest daughter and lone surviving member of the band, Autumn Nelon Streetman, was waiting for her family at the airport in Seattle where they were scheduled to perform on a cruise.
Also perishing in the plane crash were Nathan Kistler, who was the husband of Amber Nelon Kistler, making it four members from the greater Nelon family who died. The family’s assistant Melodi Hodges also died, as well as the pilot Larry Haynie, and his wife Melissa Haynie. The plane went down near Gillette, Wyoming and reportedly caused a 38-acre wildfire.
For nearly 50 years, The Rex Nelon Singers, who became known simply as The Nelons in 1985, were one of the groups that helped define the nexus between country and Gospel music, often referred to as Southern Gospel. The group has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and numerous Dove Awards throughout the legacy of the band that has seen generations of the Nelon Family take up the mantle of the family’s music. The group was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame in 2016. (read more)
Bobby Hicks – August 16th – Age 91
It’s tough to know where to start enumerating the many contributions of fiddle legend Bobby Hicks, and impossible to encapsulate them all in a few sentences and paragraphs. From spending over 50 years on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, to playing in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, from winning 10 Grammy Awards and spending a quarter century with Ricky Skaggs, to being inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017, Bobby Hicks saw and did it all.
Bobby Hicks was considered the “King of the Double Stops” by many of his fiddle-playing brothers and sisters, and in some estimations, he was one of the greatest fiddle players of all time. Bobby Hicks was also one of the oldest country and bluegrass legends around at the time of his passing. (read more)
Pete Wade – August 28th – Age 88
Whether you recognize his name or not, you most certainly recognize the work. Pete Wade played on the #1 Ray Price hit “Crazy Arms.” He played on what many consider the greatest country song in history, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones. One of the reasons Pete Wade was so revered by both his fellow musicians and many singers was due to how adept he was playing with a steel guitar player. Understanding the steel guitar himself, he was able to infer his parts to whatever the steel guitar was doing, and vice versa, resulting in a more harmonious collaboration.
Pete Wade would become a mainstay in country music studio sessions for some 60 years. Beginning his session work in the 1950s, he would go on to participate in the Johnny Cash American Recordings into the 2000s, and played on Dale Watson’s album Carryin’ On released in 2010. In between he would play on albums from Linda Ronstadt, Kitty Wells, Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jerry Reed, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, Leon Russell, K.D. Lang, Joan Baez, The Statler Brothers, and many more. (read more)
Tommy Cash – September 13th – Age 84
With the way the legacy of Johnny Cash looms so large, you could almost forget that Johnny’s brother eight years his junior also had a pretty sizable career of his own. Tommy Cash was the youngest of the seven children of Ray and Carrie (Rivers) Cash, and similar to Johnny, his music career started while he was still serving in the military and became a DJ for the Armed Forces Radio Network.
After leaving the military, Tommy Cash started touring around with Hank Williams Jr. before signing with Musicor Records in 1965, and started releasing singles. He wasn’t too successful on the label, and eventual moved to United Artists, where he started gaining attention. It was the song “Six White Horses” in 1969 written by Larry Murray about the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. that put Tommy Cash on the map in his own right, earning him a #4 hit in country, and a #1 in Canada. (read more)
JD Souther – September 17th – Age 78
It’s hard to comprehend how the California country influence or the catalog of The Eagles would hold up if songwriter JD Souther had not been such an important part of them. He wrote so many of the songs that would become instrumental to West Coast country’s international appeal, inspired his fellow songwriters of the era and region to step up their game, and sang a few hits himself.
JD Souther dated both Linda Ronstadt and Stevie Nicks at different points. He sang and wrote songs with some of California country’s most seminal stars such as Chris Hillman and Richie Furay. He was an actor, and mentor to other songwriters as well. And according to most everyone who knew him, he passed away suddenly and before his time.
“Heartache Tonight”, “Best of My Love,” “James Dean,” “Victim of Love,” and “New Kid in Town” were all songs written or co-written by Souther that are now considered essential to the repertoire of The Eagles. He wrote Linda Ronstadt’s “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues,” sang numerous duet’s with Ronstadt including “Prisoner in Disguise,” and co-produced her 1973 album Don’t Cry Now. (read more)
Hugh Prestwood – September 22nd – Age 82
Songwriter Hugh Prestwood lived an accomplished and fulfilling life as a professional songwriter, penning big hits for some of the biggest artists in country music, and being recognized by his peers and some of the premier songwriting institutions. He was also an original performer who released multiple albums himself.
Prestwood arguably hit his peak around 1990 when a host of popular artists found success with his songs. Shenandoah had a hit with “Ghost in This House,” which Alison Krauss also recorded later on. Highway 101 had a hit with “Bing Bang Boom.” When Randy Travis recorded Hugh’s “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart,” the song stayed at #1 for four weeks—an unprecedented run in country that hadn’t been accomplished in 12 years at that time.
Tanya Tucker, Don Williams, The Judds, Jerry Douglas, and more also recorded Hugh Prestwood songs over the years, while he also spent some 20 years teaching songwriting classes and workshops at the New School in Manhattan while living in Long Island. (read more)
Kris Kristofferson – September 28th – Age 88
Being simple and backwards wasn’t just the assessment of country music that many people in the United States believed before Rhodes Scholar, Army Ranger, and helicopter pilot Kris Kristofferson ditched it all to move to Nashville and take a job as a janitor to get his foot in the door of the music business. This was the assessment of Kristofferson’s own family. They disowned him for making the career move.
But through his songs and their transformational power in country music, Kris Kristofferson wouldn’t just prove his family wrong, he would revolutionize the mindset of the entire listening public, and clue them into the poeticism and the power that country music could wield through written word set to rhyme. This would open up the entire genre to an entirely new audience, and era.
Kris Kristofferson was so much more than a country artist. It’s just happened to be that country music could claim him as their own, and was proud to. The world is a much colder place without Kris Kristofferson. But it’s also a much more glorious place because of him. (read more)
Phil Lesh – October 25th – Age 84
Phil Lesh might have been part of the so-called “Other Ones” in the Grateful Dead behind Jerry Garcia. But for many bass players, Phil Lesh was the only one. Lesh was one of the first true lead bass players in popular American music beyond the jazz discipline. With guys like Jack Bruce and Jack Casady, and before Geddy Lee and Les Claypool, Phil Lesh helped pioneer the bass as more than just a rhythm instrument in rock n’ roll. Phil Lesh was far from a backline character of a famous band. He was his own autonomous musical institution.
Music would most certainly be a less interesting, colorful, aspiring, and riveting thing without the bass of Phil Lesh influencing musicians from a wide array of disciplines, including country. His passing after many years of ailments, and an entire career keeping the Grateful Dead’s music and memory alive after the passing of Jerry Garcia, isn’t just notable and important, it is monumental.
Phil Lesh was a patriarch of the bass. (read more)
Tommy Alverson – November 14th – Age 74
Perhaps east of the Sabine River, or west of Amarillo or Abilene, the most you might get from someone if you mention the name Tommy Alverson is, “sounds familiar.” But down in Texas, he might as well be a patron saint. Everybody in Texas music knows of Tommy Alverson, because he is synonymous with the music of the state, and was one of Texas country’s founding fathers.
Tommy Alverson’s songs were of Texas, from Texas, and for Texas. Well before it became cliché for Texas artists to sing about Texas, Tommy Alverson was doing it. One of the reasons Texas bands sing about Texas is because they all want to be like Tommy Alverson. If people from other states wanted to listen along to his Texas songs, that was perfectly fine with Tommy. But his heart, his sound, and his spirit was always true to the Lone Star State. (read more)
Duncan Warwick – November 17th – Age 63
Even as the internet has put many print publications out-of-business and perhaps made the idea of people cozying up with a magazine to read about their favorite artist or find something new to listen to seem quaint and obsolete, Country Music People has kept printing monthly issues no different than it’s done for 50 years, with some 650 issues in total published. Over that time it’s won the Wesley Rose International Achievement Award handed out by the Country Music Association (CMA) twice.
Even better, Country Music People has always been proud to stay true to what country music is supposed to be. And since 2009, all of this has primarily been the fault the person at the helm of Country Music People, editor Duncan Warwick. Known as a staunch supporter of traditional country music who was unafraid to share his honest opinion, he was the heart and soul of Country Music People for 15 years. He’d been fighting a long battle with Cancer. (read more)
David Mallett – December 17th – Age 73
He wrote one of the most recognized and beloved folk songs in history. He wrote scores of other folk songs that went on to be recorded by some 150 separate artists. He also composed songs for numerous country performers, including Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Kathy Mattea, and contributed to the catalog of Hal Ketchum. And though he did his time in Nashville as a professional songwriter, those in Maine know him as a proud son and poet laureate, and remembered David Mallett fondly.
To tell the story of David Mallett, you must start with “Garden Song.” Having Pete Seeger cover one of your songs is the ultimate validation in folk circles, but a cavalcade of performers added it to their repertoire as well, from Peter, Paul, and Mary, to John Denver, to even The Muppets. David Mallet has passed on, but his garden still grows, inch by inch, row by row. (read more)
John Hadley – December 18th – Age 83
The term “Renaissance Man” is bandied about often. And often, it’s employed to flatter as opposed to accurately describe. When it comes to songwriter, actor, painter, poet, writer, comedian, academic, and musician John Hadley, somehow “Renaissance Man” doesn’t seem to encapsulate the full breadth of his contributions. Over 1,000 songs were published by John Hadley in his career.
George Jones, Roger Miller, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed, Garth Brooks, the [Dixie] Chicks, Wynonna Judd, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Bobby Bare, Moe Bandy, T. Graham Brown, Joe Cocker, George Burns, Burt Reynolds and Dean Martin were just some of the names John Hadley wrote songs for. He was also a regular collaborator with writers such as Kevin Welch, David Olney, Tim O’Brien, Terri Hendrix, and Gary Nicholson just to name a few.
John Hadley was also an art professor at the University of Oklahoma for some 22 years—from 1965 to 1987. (read more)
Earl West – January 10th – Age 79 – Bluegrass bass player for Appalachian Express.
Audie Blaylock – January 10th – Age 62 – Guitarist and singer for the bluegrass band Redline who also worked with Jimmy Martin, Rhonda Vincent, Michael Cleveland, and others.
Tony Laiolo – January 31st – Age 74 – Singer and songwriter known for hosting rounds and songwriter nights in Nashville.
Len Holsclaw – February 19th – Age 90 – Founding member of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), and manager of The Country Gentlemen for 25 years.
Allison Cornell – February 21st (announced) – Age 61 – Fiddle player for Shania Twain
Al Jones – March 2nd – Age 92 – Bluegrass guitarist and singer known for performing with Frank Necessary.
Ozzy Osment – March 5th – Age 71 – Country music’s “Ozzy” who backed Tom T. Hall, Faron Young and Brenda Lee. He later worked with Kenny Chesney and others.
Anthony Scarlati – March 8th – Age 63 – Photojournalist for Country Music Weekly, Nashville Arts Magazine, Guitar Player Magazine, MusicRow and more.
Steve Lowry – March 10th – Age 63 – Music industry photographer.
Judy Lee – March 20th – Age 89 – Country and bluegrass guitarist known as a member of the all-woman band The Rhythm Queens. Appeared on The Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride numerous times.
Shelby Webre – March 22nd – Age 32 – Noted Texas music supporter and co-owner of The County Line listening room in Abbott/West, TX. Saving Country Music reader (and critic). Passed away tragically after a battle with Cancer.
Norah Lee Allen – March 31st – Age 76 – Wife of Oak Ridge Boys singer Duane Allen who was also a professional singer herself.
Bucky Wilkin – April 6th – Age 77 – Known best as the writer and performer of “G.T.O.” in Ronny & The Daytonas, he was also a roommate of Kris Kristofferson for a while, and the two wrote songs together. Bucky was best known in rock, but spent large amounts of time in Nashville.
Ben Eldridge – April 14th – Age 85 – Founding member of bluegrass band The Seldom Scene and bluegrass banjo legend. Ben is in in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame.
Frank Wakefield – April 26th – Age 89 – Mandolin player and member of the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys, the Chain Mountain Boys, along with playing for Jimmy Martin and The Stanley Brothers.
Roy Carter – April 29th – Age 68 – Founder of High Sierra Music Festival and DelFest among other events.
Chris Stafford – May 2nd – Age 36 – Lafayette Cajun musician of Feufollet and other bands. Four time Grammy nominee.
Wayland Hollyfield – May 6th – Age 82 – Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member who wrote twelve #1 singles, and more than 40 Top 10 hits. A wildly-successful songwriter, his songs were recorded by George Strait, Conway Twitty, Randy Travis, The Judds, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, and Waylon Jennings among others.
James Gregory – May 9th – Age 78 – Comedian who regularly appeared on country programs including radio shows, Larry’s Country Diner, Country’s Family Reunion, and other programs. He appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.
Larry Garris – May 11th – Age 75 – Owner of 50-year-old music store Corner Music in Nashville.
Bud Logan – May 13th – Age 83 – Producer for John Conlee and T. Graham Brown.
Frank Ifield – May 18th – Age 86 – Australian country and pop legend who incorporated yodeling into his music.
Patrick Gottsch – May 18th – Age 70 – Founder of the Rural Media Group and RFD-TV.
John Schweers – May 28th – Age 78 – Towering country songwriter who scored numerous #1 hits, and had songs recorded by Ronnie Milsap, George Jones, Charley Pride, Waylon Jennings, Tom T. Hall, Tanya Tucker, Don Williams, Conway Twitty, and many more. Schweers has been nominated for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame six times, but never inducted.
Wayne Bledsoe – June 2nd – Age 83 – Founder of Bluegrass Now magazine, radio broadcaster, and 1996 IBMA Print/Media Person of the Year who wrote many liner notes for bluegrass albums.
Gerrie Lynn – June 5th – Age 86 – Columbia Records-signed country singer who performed on the Grand Ole Opry numerous times, and was famous for her song “I’ll Pick Up The Pieces”—an answer to Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces.”
Wayne Hobbs – June 10th – Age 72 – Steel guitar player for Bill Anderson, Marty Robbins, Connie Smith, Barbara Mandrell, and others who appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and Hee-Haw many times.
Joe Scaife – June 12th – Age 68 – Noted studio engineer and producer, as well as a songwriter, backing vocalist, and percussionist.
Buzz Cason – June 16th – Age 84 – Songwriter, session vocalist, studio owner, and all around music man credited for helping to establish Nashville as a musical epicenter.
Randall Collins – June 27th – Age 84 – Fiddle player who performed with Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, and Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. He was also a founding member of The Pinnacle Boys.
Artie Rose – June 28th – Age 93 – Dobro player who played with Harry and Jeanie West, David Grisman, and others.
Herb Applin – June 29th – Age 86 – Bluegrass multi-instrumentalist who performed in the Berkshire Mountain Boys and the Old Time Bluegrass Singers.
Danny Carter – June 30th – Age 71 – Guitar player in the newgrass duo The Carter Brothers.
Cliff Waldron – July 1st – Age 83 – Bluegrass guitarist and bandleader for numerous groups around Washington D.C.
Rusty Golden – July 1st – Age 65 – Son of Oak Ridge Boys Member William Lee Golden, Rusty was a career musician in his own right, starting on drums, moving to piano and keyboard, and playing in a host of outfits and on studio projects. He performed with Larry Gatlin, and in the bands Golden Speer, and The Goldens with his father.
Michael Corcoran – July 2nd (announced) – Age 68 – Venerated Austin music journalist and critic who wrote for Spin, Rolling Stone, National Lampoon, Dallas Morning News, and the Austin American-Statesman.
Mark Germino – July 3rd – Age 73 – Folk pop artist who had John Anderson, Vern Gosdin, Bobby Bare, and others record his songs.
Mary Martin – July 4th – Age 85 – Critically important music manager and label executive who introduced Bob Dylan to The Band, managed Leonard Cohen, Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, signed Emmylou Harris to Warner, and Clint Black and Lorrie Morgan to RCA.
Harry Traum – July 17th – Age 86 – Folk and country performer and teacher who was the first to cover songs by Bob Dylan. Released many lesson tapes in audio and video form that featured greats such as Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, and Tony Rice.
Jerry Fuller – July 18th – Age 85 – Writer of Ricky Nelson’s “Travelin’ Man,” as well as songs for Ray Price, Reba McEntire, Hank Snow, Marty Robbins, and Barbara Mandrell. Fuller was also the guy who convinced Glen Campbell to move to Los Angeles.
J. Remington Wilde – July 20th – Age 72 – Songwriter for Randy Travis, Conway Twitty, Gary Allan, and others.
Craig Morris – July 27th – Age 70 – Banjoist for bands King Cotton and the Meltons among others.
Katie Laur – August 3rd – Bluegrass vocalist and bandleader who hosted a radio show on WNKU from Northern Kentucky University for 27 years.
Ray Kirkland – August 5th – Age 83 – Singer and multi-instrumentalist known for performing with the Osborne Brothers, Jim & Jesse, along with Grandpa Jones and Kitty Wells later in their careers.
Don Morris – August 8th – Red Dirt legend and bassist for the Red Dirt Rangers. Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductee.
Donnie Winters – August 18th – Age 73 – Member of the Southern rock outfit The Winters Brothers who performed around Nashville for many years. Later in life, Winters was a noted sound engineer in Nashville clubs.
Will Jennings – September 6th – Songwriters Hall of Fame member who wrote iconic songs such as “Higher Love,” “Up Where We Belong,” and “Tears in Heaven.” Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, and Emmylou Harris all recorded his songs.
Billy Sherrill – September 10th – Age 77 – Studio engineer who worked with Kenny Rogers, The Marshall Tucker band, Kenney Chesney, and many others. No relation to the legendary country producer also named Billy Sherrill.
David Davis – September 15th – Age 63 – Bluegrass musician and frontman of the Warrior River Boys. He passed away in an automobile accident.
Billy Edd Wheeler – September 16th – Age 91 – Songwriter and performer who wrote notable hits such as “Jackson (Johnny Cash and June Carter) and “Coward of the County” (Kenny Rogers). Wheeler was also a playwright and poet.
Bill Simpson – September 18th – Age 90 – Bluegrass banjoist who played in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys.
Tom Morgan – September 26th – Age 92 – Bluegrass guitarist and bassist who played bass in The Country Gentlemen and The Kentuckians among other outfits.
Owsley Manier – October 1st – Age 77 – Co-founder of Nashville’s legendary club The Exit/In.
Buzz Rabin – October 12th – Age 83 – Country singer/songwriter whose songs were recorded by Willie Nelson, Ringo Starr, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mel Tillis, Johnny Cash, Bill Anderson, Johnny Paycheck, George Strait, Alabama, Hank Williams, Jr., and others. Rabin wrote Ringo Starr’s “Beaucoups of Blues.”
Lee Dunbar – October 14th – Age 63 – Southwest Virginia banjo champion who competed and won multiple times a competitions in Galax, VA.
Barbara Dane – October 20th – Age 97 – Folk and Gospel singer who recorded for Folkways Records and was recognized as one of the oldest living roots music performers.
Eddie Burton – November 9th – Age 77 – Session guitarist and songwriter who had songs recorded by George Jones and Tammy Wynette among others.
Ella Jenkins – November 9th – Age 100 – Known as the “The First Lady of Children’s Folk Songs” and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
Zeke Dawson – November 11th – Age 84 – Country and bluegrass fiddle player who toured with George Jones and Loretta Lynn from 1974 to 1984, and appeared in the film Coal Miner’s Daughter.
Wendell Wiles – November 13th – Age 77 – Mandolin player from North Carolina who appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and Midnite Jamboree.
David Parton – November 15th – Age 82 – Brother to Dolly Parton and Stella Parton.
Lonnie Hoppers – November 17th – Age 89 – Banjo player who performed in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in the early ’60s. He later played in his own groups such as Lonnie Hoppers & New Union.
Toni Price – November 22nd – Age 63 – Noted Austin country blues singer.
Charlie Cheney – November 26th – Age 69 – Stuart, VA banjo player.
Marshall Brickman – November 29th – Age 85 – Melodic banjo player who also wrote screenplays for Woody Allen films.
Mike Duncan – December 7th – Age 72 – Bluegrass photographer.
Larysa Jaye – December 8th – Age 40 – Nashville-based singer and songwriter who performed on Lower Broadway. She died in an automobile accident.
Martha Sharp – December 11th – Age 87 – Songwriter and executive at Warner Music famous for signing Randy Travis.
Bob Perilla – December 12th – Age 71 – Frontman and guitar player of the band Big Hillbilly Bluegrass and a fixture of the Washington D.C. bluegrass world.
Eugene Ward – December 15th – Age 92 – Husband of Jeannie Seely.
Paul Roper – December 17th – Age 45 – President of Dualtone Music Group who helped develop the careers of artists like Shakey Graves, Shovels & Rope, Langhorne Slim, and Mt. Joy. He passed away from Cancer.
Bobby Kallus – December 22nd – Beloved Central Texas drummer.
