George Jones

George Jones was born in Sarasota, Texas. He sang for tips on the streets in nearby Beaumont and worked the local tonk tonk circuit. Already twice divorced at 24, in 1955 during a recording session for Starday Records, producer Pappy Daily told George, he should stop trying to imitate his idols, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams, and just sing like George Jones. George gave it a shot, and out of that session came his first top 5 hit "Why Baby Why."

George moved to to the Mercury label from Starday, where he played around with recording rockabilly, under the name "Thumper Jones". George scored his first #1 country hit in 1959 with "White Lightening" and hit the top again in 1961, with "Tender Years" and "She Thinks I Still Care".

A few years later, George moved over to the Musicor label, and his singles consistently hit the top 10, again hitting #1 in 1967 with "Walk Through This World With Me".

In 1969, George married fellow country star, Tammy Wynette, and moved to her label Epic, which produced a 20+ year association with legendary producer, Billy Sherrill, and a string of duets with Tammy. His solo hits in the 70's include the #1 songs "The Grand Tour" and "The Door", and duets with Tammy, "We're Gonna Hold On", "Golden Ring" and "Near You".

This period also proved the most the most volatile in his career, as he battled substance abuse and missing shows due to his binging episodes, which led to his nickname "No Show Jones". His marriage to Tammy ultimately ended in divorce in 1976.

This however, didn't stop George's chart success. He kicked off the 80's releasing "He Stopped Loving Her Today", one of the all time greatest country songs ever recorded, which won CMA honors as song of the year- for two years straight (1980/81). His hits continued through the 80's and he won top honors again at the CMAs, in a fairly new medium, video of the year, for "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" in 1986.

In 1991, George signed with MCA Records, and continued to chart in the early '90s, with "I Don't Need Your Rocking Chair", a song recorded with some of Nashville's new young guns, who sighted George as being a big influence in their own careers. He released the highly acclaimed Bradley Barn Sessions, a recording of duets with some of these same young up and comers, and recorded a final duet album with ex-wife Tammy Wynette, "One".

Today, George, considered by many to be one of the greatest country singers of all time, still tours and records actively, releasing the critically acclaimed "The Rock" in the fall of 2001.

As George and his peers sighted Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell as their greatest influences, most of today's crop of country stars sight George Jones as being one of their greatest influences.