George Jones, one of the all-time great singers in Country-and-Western music, much admired and imitated, with numerous hits such as "Why Baby Why," "White Lightning," "She Thinks I Still Care," "The Race Is On," and many others, passed away on Friday at a Nashville hospital at the age of 81.
Nicknamed "Possum" for his close-set eyes and pointed nose, then later as "No-Show Jones" for the concerts he missed due to drinking and drug binges, Mr. Jones, with a baritone voice that was as elastic as a steel-guitar string, found vulnerability and doubt behind that cheerful drive of honky-tonk and brough suspense to each syllable.
Some might say George's style could be described as a merger of the blues with the tight, quivering ornaments of Appalachian singing.
George, who was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, was a major force in Country music from the 1950s up to the 21st century.
He was married four times, most notably to fellow Country music singer Tammy Wynette (from 1969 until they divorced in 1975). George and Tammy recorded a number of hit records during that time. They reunited a couple of times, in 1980 and during the mid-1990s.
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