Death Claimed These Country Music Stars Too Early

EDDIE RABBITT

The former songwriter of Elvis Presley and Ronnie Milsap pioneered country crossover songs in the ’70s with hit songs such as Suspicions. Another hit, Every Which Way but Loose, became the soundtrack of a movie with a similar name. The song Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers) was a collaboration project with Juice Newton. Sadly he succumbed to lung cancer and died in 1998 at the age of 56.

CHRIS LEDOUX

He recorded 36 albums during his career. He was catapulted to fame by This Cowboy’s Hat and Cadillac Ranch songs. It is no surprise that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) honored him with one platinum and two gold certifications for all the albums that received so much attention. However, on March 9, 2005, cancer claimed his life at the age of 56.

PATSY CLINE

Cline rocked the country music charts in the ’50s and ’60s. Her popular songs include Walkin’ After Midnight and Sweet Dreams. She was the 20th-century country music sensation. She tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 30 on March 5, 1963. Ironically, her pilot’s instructor had also trained country music star Jim Reeves who also crashed his plane in 1964.

JIM REEVES

His Nashville sound was a combination of older country-style music with popular songs. Some of the hit songs are He’ll Have To Go and Adios Amigos. If you come across original records of these songs, treasure them because collectors pay lots of money for the classics. Reeves died after crashing his single-engine Beechcraft airplane on July 31, 1964. He was 40 years old.

HANK WILLIAMS

Hank Williams is a pioneer, especially in the country music realm. In Top 10 of the Country & Western Best Sellers Billboard chart, he had a whopping 35 hit singles. Eleven singles occupied the number one spot. Among the smashing hits are “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Hey, Good Lookin.” Stars such as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis were inspired by him. After a long battle with alcoholism and prescription drugs abuse, Williams died on New Year’s day in 1953, aged 29.