The Associated Press is reporting the death of country music legend George Jones, whose hard-drinkin’, hard-livin’ lifestyle wasn’t just a song he sang. Jones had recently been hospitalized with a fever and was suffering from irregular blood pressure. He died at the age of 81.
Best known for his gut-wrenching single “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Jones was the epitome of the classic country singer, pinched baritone and all. He recorded dozens of hits about love, loss, and drunken carousing, and landed No. 1 singles in five consecutive decades, starting in the ‘50s. Nicknamed “Possum,” Jones released more than 150 albums, and while he never crossed over into the rock or pop world, he was admired by country artists and non-country artists alike. As Waylon Jennings sang in “It’s Alright”: “If we all could sound like we wanted to, we’d all sound like George Jones.”
Jones was also well known for his troubles with drugs, alcohol, and the law. In later years, his nickname changed from “Possum” to “No-Show Jones,” owing to the dozens of concerts he missed at the height of his drinking and drugging. He bought, sold, traded, and lost innumerable cars and houses. He made millions of dollars, but lost a good portion of it to drug dealers, mismanagement, and legal struggles. (Still, that turmoil fueled his music, and only made it easier for his fans to identify with him.) As The New York Times put it in today, “All the pleasures of a down-home Saturday night couldn’t free him from private pain.” But with the help of his fourth wife, Nancy, Jones had remained sober for the last 10 years.
Born George Glenn Jones in Saratoga, Texas, Jones bought his first guitar when at the age of 9 and started singing on the streets and in church when he was a teenager. After high school, he got married, quickly divorced, then joined the Marines. When he got out of the service, his musical career quickly took off. He signed to Starday Records to release his first single, “No Money In This Deal,” in 1954. In 1955, Jones had his first hit, “Why Baby Why,” and began singing at the Grand Ole Opry in 1956. He had also started drinking by that time—and soon after, started missing shows. Jones also developed a reputation for getting in fights on the road and slowing down things in the studio. For instance, it took 83 takes to get his 1959 single “White Lightning” recorded, because he was drinking throughout.
In 1962, Jones was nominated for his first Grammy for “She Thinks I Still Care.” In 1964, he had another big hit with “The Race Is On” and took part in the first country show at Madison Square Garden, joining acts like Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe, and Buck Owens. In 1966, his drinking had gotten so bad that his wife hid his car keys, leading to an infamous incident where he drove his lawnmower to the liquor store, later recounting that “it might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did.” He’d repeat the lawnmower escapade again later in life, while married to Tammy Wynette. In her 1979 autobiography, Wynette recalls waking up in the middle of the night to find him missing. She drove to the nearest bar, 10 miles away, finding both Jones and the lawnmower there waiting for her. Jones would later parody both misadventures in his 1996 single, “Honky Tonk Song.”
While married to another woman, Shirley Corley, in 1966, he met Wynette that same year and started wooing her, even though she was also married to someone else. Jones would divorce Corley in 1968, and marry Wynette in 1969. They moved to Florida, where Jones opened a country-themed amusement park, The Old Plantation.