Southern rock and country legend, Charlie Daniels died yesterday, July 6. He suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and died at Summit Medical Center, not far from his home in Mount Juliet, TN. (Just outside of Nashville.)
With hits like “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” “Long Haired Country Boy,” and “The Legend of Wooley Swamp,” his lifetime record sales exceeded 13.5 million units, putting him in the ranks with artists like John Lennon, Paul Simon, Natalie Cole, Yes, and Jefferson Airplane.
Over the course of his career, he charted on Rock, Pop, Country, and Gospel charts and had nine Gold, Platinum and/or multi-Platinum albums.
Among Daniels’s most impressive accomplishments was the 1974 launch of his Volunteer Jam. These annual, multi-artist, multi-genre extravaganzas, became a who’s who of music and sometimes stretched past 10 hours in length.
Prior to gaining solo stardom, he was a session musician for artists such as Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Leonard Cohen. And as a songwriter, his earliest success came in 1964 when a song that he co-wrote, “It Hurts Me” became a Top 30 pop hit for Elvis Presley.
The singer, songwriter, fiddle player was a member of the Musicians Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Grand Ole Opry.
Charlie Daniels was 83 years old.
TL;DR:
- Southern rock and country legend, Charlie Daniels died yesterday, July 6. He was 83 and suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and died at Summit Medical Center, not far from his home in Mount Juliet, TN. (Just outside of Nashville.)
- Over the course of his career, he charted on Rock, Pop, Country, and Gospel charts. In 1974 he launched his Volunteer Jam.
- The singer, songwriter, fiddle player was a member of the Musicians Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Grand Ole Opry.