Getty Mac Davis performs on April 25, 2015 in Indio, California.
Country singer Mac Davis is critically ill following heart surgery in Nashville, according to a statement on social media accounts belonging to his family and manager. The statement, posted to a Twitter account claiming to be run by his family, reads: “We are sorry to report that legendary singer/songwriter Mac Davis is critically ill following heart surgery in Nashville. Your love and prayers will be deeply appreciated at this time. #PrayForMacDavis. Thank you, The Davis Family.”
Dolly Parton shared the tweet along with the hashtag #PrayForMacDavis:
Some questioned the news due to the newly created Twitter account on which it was first posted, but Davis’ manager Jim Morey also posted the statement from the singer’s family to his Facebook account. The same statement has been shared on the official Mac Davis Instagram account.
The 78-year-old Davis, born Morris Mac Davis in Lubbock, Texas, became well known as a country singer in the 1970s, especially with songs like “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me” and “Stop and Smell the Roses.” He won the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award for Entertainer of the Year in 1974 and in 2006 was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Davis First Gained Recognition as a Songwriter for the Sinatras & Elvis Presley Before Becoming a Successful Country Singer
Davis was born in Lubbock, Texas, and moved to Atlanta after his high school graduation, according to his bio in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He studied at Emory University and Georgia State College, where he formed a band that would play at college parties and Atlanta-area clubs. In the late 1960s, Davis gained recognition as a songwriter, primarily for hits he wrote for Elvis Presley such as “Memories,” “Don’t Cry Daddy” and “In the Ghetto.” Arguably his best hit for Presley, “A Little Less Conversation,” came in 1968 and experienced a resurgence in the early 2000s.
Davis then went on to pursue a country music career and won the ACM Entertainer of the Year Award in 1975. According to Taste of Country, Davis has had six singles that hit the Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Davis has written for many different artists in the past decades, as his Songwriters Hall of Fame bio points out:
Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Bobby Goldsboro, Gallery, O.C. Smith, Freddie Hart, Ray Price and Lou Rawls. … In 2010, Davis paired up with Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo to write ‘Time Flies,’ and in 2013 penned ‘Addicted to You’ for Avicii’s debut studio album True. In 2015 he won a BMI Pop Award as a co-writer for Bruno Mars’s single ‘Young Girls.’
Davis Also Pursued a Career Beyond Music, Appearing in TV Shows & Movies
Davis appeared in multiple TV shows and movies, becoming an all-around entertainer in the past few decades. He had a TV series on NBC, The Mac Davis Show, which ran from 1974 to 1976, his bio reads. He made his film debut in 1979 opposite Nick Nolte in the acclaimed football movie North Dallas Forty. On the big screen, he had roles in Cheaper to Keep Her, The Sting II and Possums.
He appeared in various TV series, namely a recurring role on the sitcom Rodney, where he played Rodney Carrington’s father-in-law. Davis appeared on the Broadway stage as well, playing the title role in the play “Will Rogers Follies,” which he performed in New York City and during a national tour. Most recently, he appeared in Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings in 2019, his IMDB credits show.
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