George Jones’ funeral will take place on Thursday, May 2nd at The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, starting at 10 am and will be open to the public.

 


“The Voice” of Country Music fell silent with the passing of the iconic legend, George Jones in Nashville at the age of 81. A member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1956, George Jones achieved perhaps his greatest personal honor when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992.
 
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to the Grand Ole Opry trust fund:

Opry Trust Fund
2804 Opryland Drive

Nashville, Tennessee 37214
 

or to the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum at http://store.countrymusichalloffame.com/categories/Donate/

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME® AND MUSEUM
222 FIFTH AVENUE SOUTH
NASHVILLE, TN 37203

If you have ever listened to country music, at any point in your life, you have felt the influence of George Jones. He has had hits on the radio for more than six decades. We all have our favorites, for different reasons. I thought I would share my Top Ten list.

1.  "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

2.  "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"

3.  "Golden Ring" with Tammy Wynette

4.  "Still Doin' Time"

5.  "Choices"

6.  "Tennessee Whiskey"

7.  "She's My Rock"

8.  "She Thinks I Still Care"

9.  "Two Story House" with Tammy Wynette

10. "Radio Lover"

Unfortunately, over the last ten years, most radio has moved on to a differnt style of country, so there will be some in the family who have never had the pleasure of hearing Jones tear your heart out with a song. Too bad for them.

George Strait: "RIP in George Jones THANK YOU for everything!!"

Toby Keith: "George Jones has passed. Damn. Thought he'd live forever. Let's break out his catalogue and play it all day Godspeed possum and family."

Trace Adkins: " George Jones was my friend, and I loved him. His presence, made me smile."

Garth Brooks calls him "the greatest voice ever to grace country music."

Merle Haggard: "The world may have lost the greatest country singer that ever lived."

Alan Jackson: "Well, heaven better get ready for some great country music," While George was known for his wild and crazy days, I've known him for 25 years as a friend. He had grown into a real good man. Of course, he will always be the greatest singer and interpreter of real country music. There'll never be another."

Loretta Lynn:“It’s a sad day for country music and a great loss for those of us who knew him. I was blessed to call George my friend. He was one of the best country singers there ever was. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Nancy, and all of his family. It’s a sad, sad day.”

Barbara Mandrell: "I believe if you ask any singer who was the greatest country music singer of all time, they would say 'George Jones.' He was without question and by far the best! I first met and worked with him when I was 13 years old; I am so very grateful that he was my friend." 

Tracy Lawrence: "I am so saddened by the news of George Jones's passing. He was a wonderful friend, and I will always treasure the times we had together. My thoughts and prayers are with Nancy and the entire family. George left a tremendous mark on country music and inspired us all. I will miss him. God bless you, George."

Trisha Yearwood: "The Yearwood-Brooks household is sad today. Rest in peace, George Jones. Our hearts go out to Nancy and family. There are some shoes that just can't be filled."

Dolly Parton: “My heart is absolutely broken. George Jones was my all time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world. My heart goes out to Nancy and the rest of his family.”

Faith Hill: "We lost one of the best voices God created this morning. Our hearts are saddened.

Vince Gill: "There aren't words in our language to describe the depth of his greatness. I'll miss my kind and generous friend."

Martina McBride: "The reality and sadness of losing George Jones just kept hitting me in waves all day today," she wrote. "I was so moved reading everyone's tweets and tributes. And how great was it to hear George on the radio again?! It made me realize that I hadn't heard George Jones on the radio once in the past 10 years. That, my friends, is just plain wrong. But that's a whole other discussion. George Jones was and forever is an enduring iconic symbol of country music," she continued. "He was ours. There is no other voice like his. Few people knew (or know) their way around a country song like him. He just plain knew what he was doing. He was a stylist, but that voice was authentic ... never gimmicky. Just full of emotion. You can hear his influence in nearly every country singer since. And his voice and legacy will live on forever. Today was truly the end of an era."

Kix Brooks: "Possum, angels got a serious lead singer today -- what a guy -- what a voice -- that was one hell of a show!"

Ronnie Dunn: "The greatest country blues singer to ever live"

Bill Anderson: "So sad to hear the news about George Jones' passing. He was the definitive country singer, and I was proud to call him a friend. Who's gonna fill his shoes? Nobody ... at least not for a long, long time. Rest in peace, my friend."  

Charlie Daniels: "Rest in peace George Jones, There will never be another one like you and we'll miss you a bunch Buddy."
Ricky Skaggs: "The country music singer of all time. The words 'Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes' has never been more true than today."

Mel Tillis: "I met George when he came to Nashville and we became good friends. I'm really going to miss him. The world has lost the greatest singer to have ever lived."

Pam Tillis: "Country music as we know it would be vastly different if it weren't for George Jones. He's in our musical DNA. All country artists will have to figure out how to even begin to live up to his kind of legacy. 'Honky-Tonk Heaven,' here he comes ... though we're not ready to let go."

Songwriter Bobby Braddock, who provided Jones with 29 songs over the decades, says, "No one in country music has influenced so many other artists."

Mark Chesnutt: "He was my mentor and my teacher," he said. "He paved the way for so many, and I was one of the lucky ones to have enjoyed the opportunity to not only sing beside him, but just sit and visit with him. When I was just starting out, we toured together. He was the headliner. After a few shows, he told me that I was going to close the shows because he wanted to watch Andy Griffith."

Billy Dean: "George Jones was a mentor and a giant to my generation of country singers. He was there for my first Ralph Emery Show appearance. Backstage, I was so nervous and expressed concern to George that if Ralph Emery didn't like me, my career may never get off the ground. The first thing George said to Ralph when they went on air was how nice of guy he thought I was. George Jones was our country music soul singer, no doubt."

Lorrie Morgan: "With tear-filled eyes, I'm reminiscing this morning about all that I learned from and loved about George Jones," she said. "He was part of my country music education. He made country music history and, in my opinion, George Jones is a song's best friend. No one will leave an imprint on my life like George did."

Sammy Kershaw: "I have been inspired by his music for the last 50 years, and for 42 of those, I had the pleasure of knowing him personally and professionally. He was it to me. George was and will always be my guy. I am luckier than a lot of people on this Earth because God let me be a part of George's life and him a part of mine."

Searing, indelible, undeniable. When someone heard George Jones sing, they never forgot. In part because he lived as hard as he sang those classic country songs. With dates booked through November 2013, George Jones knew one thing -- keep singing. It's what he did, it's how he lived. Well, that and a world class emotional raw spot that inflected everything he ever sang.

The reality landed squarely in 1985 when Jones looked the oncoming credibility scare of Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Randy Travis, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs, Rosanne Cash and Rodney Crowell square in the eye and pondered the inevitability of change. Knowing that time passes and tastes change, he didn't so much decry the newcomers, as he questioned those who miss the value of the ones who come before.

Celebrating Luke the Drifter, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Lefty Frizzell and a handful of country legends who shaped the genre, the moaning blues-country vocalist asked "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?" The more the Troy Seals/Max D. Barnes song -- produced by the old-school classicist Billy Sherrill -- unfurled, the more the contrast expanded.

It's a question that bares asking, now more than ever. In a world of pitch-correcting, Pro Tools, splicing and stacking vocals, George Jones did it real, on the fly and with the band. Legendarily, it took 83 takes to get "White Lightning," but a real performance that sparks like a flint striking in the dark.

Do we need old school country music? Hard to say. But you listen to the processed, bulked up steroidal arena country, then put on "When the Grass Grows Over Me." Feel the difference and decide which has the most immediacy, the most charisma, the most punch to the stomach. It won't take but a bar or two.

I'm struck by the endurance and the nakedness to his performances. The unwillingness to deflect anything. What he felt was what he sang. Undeniable, and yet that incandescence of feral intensity is its own creative force.

George Jones, you see, wasn't someone who came to play, but to burn. When you look at it like that, you realize ain't nobody who can fill those shoes. (read more from article by Holly Gleaon at CMT.com)

Country Music Hall of Famer, Grand Ole Opry member, and Kennedy Center Honoree George Glenn Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He was hospitalized April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure.

Born September 12, 1931, Jones is regarded among the most important and influential singers in American popular music history. He was the singer of enduring country music hits including “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Grand Tour,” “Walk Through This World With Me,” “Tender Years” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the latter of which is often at the top of industry lists of the greatest country music singles of all time.

 

“A singer who can soar from a deep growl to dizzying heights, he is the undisputed successor of earlier natural geniuses such as Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell,” wrote Bob Allen in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s “Encyclopedia of Country Music.”
 
Jones was born in Saratoga, Texas, and he played on the streets of Beaumont for tips as a teenager. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps before returning to Texas and recording for the Starday label in Houston, Texas. In 1955, his “Why Baby Why” became his first Top 10 country single, peaking at number four and beginning a remarkable commercial string: Jones would ultimately record more than 160 charting singles, more than any other artist in any format in the history of popular music.
 
Jones’ first number one hit came in 1959 with “White Lightning,” a Mercury Records single that topped Billboard country charts for five weeks. He moved on to United Artists and then to Musicor, notching hits including “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Race Is On,” “A Good Year for the Roses” and “Walk Through This World With Me.”
 
Jones signed with Epic Records in 1971 and worked with producer Billy Sherrill to craft a sound at once elegant and rooted, scoring with “The Grand Tour,” “Bartenders Blues” and many more. Sherrill also produced duets between Jones and his then-wife Tammy Wynette, and in the 1970s they scored top-charting hits including “We’re Gonna Hold On,” “Golden Ring” and “Near You.”

 

By the time “Golden Ring” and “Near You” hit in 1976, Jones and Wynette were divorced, and Jones was battling personal demons. His solo career cooled until 1980, when he recorded “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” a ballad penned by Curly Putman and Bobby Braddock that helped Jones win Country Music Association prizes for best male vocal and top single. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” revived a flagging career, and Jones won the CMA’s top male vocalist award in 1980 and 1981. He also earned a Grammy for best male country vocal performance.
 
In 1983, Jones married the former Nancy Ford Sepulvado. The union, he repeatedly said, began his rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol and prolonged his life. He signed with MCA Records in 1990 and began a successful run, and he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992. His guest vocal on Patty Loveless’ “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me” won a CMA award for top vocal event in 1998, and it became his final Top 20 country hit.
 
In 1999, Jones nearly died in a car wreck, but he recovered and resumed touring and recording. He remained a force in music until his death, playing hundreds of shows in the new century and collecting the nation’s highest arts award, the Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement, in 2008. In late 2012, Jones announced his farewell tour, which was to conclude with a sold-out, star-packed show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on November 22, 2013. Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Charlie Daniels, Kenny Rogers, Sam Moore, The Oak Ridge Boys and many others were set to perform at Jones’ Bridgestone show.

 

Jones is survived by his loving wife of 30 years Nancy Jones, his sister Helen Scroggins, and by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell Perform "Love Has Come For You" with the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin and Joe Diffie have teamed up for the Roots & Boots Tour. The trio will take the stage together to perform acoustic versions of their more than 40 combined Top 10 hit songs. They will also share stories behind the songs and the roots of their music.

“The ‘Roots & Boots’ tour is three friends who love country music having a good time, telling jokes about each other and telling jokes on each other,” Sammy Kershaw said.

”We tell stories behind all of our songs. It’s a great show, so don’t be square, be there!” “Sam, Aaron and I have a great time doing these shows and the fans do too,” Joe Diffie said.

“It’s always an adventure.” “Being onstage with Sammy and Joe is a blast,” Aaron Tippin added. “I admire both of these guys so much. We have a great time together and the show is different every night and always a lot of fun.”

(more at GAC.com)