George Jones Dead at 81: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

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George Jones, hard-living Country Music singer who recorded dozens of hits about regrets and good times and the hit class “He Stopped Loving Her Today” has died. He was 81. Here are 5 fast facts you need to know about George Jones.

1. George Jones Was the “Voice of Country Music”
After a year of ill health Country Music legend George Jones passed away Friday at 81 in a Nashville Hospital. According to TMZ, Jones died with a fever and irregular high blood pressure. A cause of death has not yet been identified. Billboard says Jones was hospitalized on Thursday, April 18th and had to cancel concerts in Atlanta and Salem, VA.


2. Jones Was Born in Texas in 1931

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Jones was born in Texas in 1931 and had a career that spanned more than four decades. His primetime years was from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. He earned his first Billboard hit in 1955. He was inspired by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and other country artists.


3. He Earned the Nickname “No Show”
Although Jones was known as “The Voice” in Country Music” he quickly became famous for his partying ways. In his younger years he battled alcoholism and drug use. This caused him to hit road bumps in his career, that’s when he became known as the “No Show.” He would skip performances often.


4. Jones Almost Died in 1999, After a Car Accident
E! News reported that Jones cheated death after almost losing his life in a car accident in Nashville. The car accident was drinking related. “I messed up my life way back there, drinking and boozing and all that kind of stuff,” Jones told The Tennessean back in 2008. “And you wish you could just erase it all. You can’t do that, though. You just have to live it down the best you can.”


5. Jones his signature song was “He Stopped Loving Her Today”

Jones signature song was “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Jones won a Grammy award in 1981 for “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and in 1999 for “Choices.” He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 2008. Jones had four marriages that failed. He had four children, one with Dorothy Bonivillian, 2 with Shirley Ann Corley, and one with Wynette. R.I.P. George Jones.