George Jones

George Glenn Jones (1931) nicknamed "The Possum", was born with a broken arm in Saratoga, Texas[?] and grew up in the settlements north of Beaumont around the Big Thicket[?]. By age 24, he had been married twice, served in the Marines and developed his skills as a country musician and singer. "Why Baby Why" was his first top-five hit in 1955.

Jones' drinking was legendary and for a great part of his life he woke up to a Bloody Mary and spent the rest of the day drinking bourbon. In the mid 1970s he added cocaine to whiskey. His self-destructive bent brought him close to death and from the height of fame in the '70s to the inside of a mental hospital in Alabama at the end of the decade. During this period, he missed so many booked engagements that he was known as "No-Show" Jones.

His third wife, Tammy Wynette, was the passion of his life. The pair were married in 1969 and performed a string of duets together but Tammy could not keep him off the booze and after a turbulent relationship the couple divorced in 1975. It was his fourth (and present) wife, Nancy Sepulvado, whom Jones credits for rescuing him from the bottle. The pair were married in 1983 and they live outside the town of Franklin, Tennessee.

In his biography I lived to Tell It All, published in 1996, Jones sets out a chronicle of his life and his bad behaviour.

Despite the hard living, hard drinking past, George Jones continues to make albums and play to his loyal fans. He spends up to 165 days a year on the road.

Discography

Details of George's singles and albums can be found at George Jones (http://www.georgejones.com/music/index.htm)

Further reading and reference

• In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-375-70082-x

Other links

Academy of Country Music

List of country musicians

Country Music Association