Charlie Daniels, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame best known for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," died Monday morning after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. He was 83. Daniels' death was confirmed by his publicist, Don Murry Grubbs, to The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. He is survived by his wife, Hazel, and son Charlie Daniels, Jr.
By the time the Charlie Daniels Band topped the charts with “Devil” in 1979, the instrumentalist, singer and songwriter had long established a remarkable, multifaceted career in Music City. As a session musician, he played on three of Bob Dylan’s albums — including the revolutionary “Nashville Skyline” — as well as recordings for Ringo Starr, Leonard Cohen, Tammy Wynette and other luminaries.
From there he built his own career as Grammy-winning singer, entertainer, songwriter and fiddle virtuoso. He’s migrated from an earlier countercultural stance epitomized on "Long Haired Country Boy" to become an advocate for patriotism and the military.
On his 2016 album "Night Hawk", Daniels honored an often neglected branch in country’s family tree. “I’d wanted to do an album of cowboy songs for a decade or longer,” he told USA TODAY at the time. “But I didn’t want to get involved with the cowboy as portrayed in the movies. I wanted to get involved in the working cowboy’s life...
"To me, that was kind of our Knights of the Round Table era. But even now, if you went to a foreign country and asked them ‘What is your prototype of American history?’ they’d probably think of the cowboy, the guy with the big hatthe spurs and the big boots.”
In other words, a guy pretty much like Charlie Daniels.
In 1974, he launched the first “Volunteer Jam,” an all-star concert that has continued for nearly 50 years. With The Journey Home Project, he helped raise money for veteran assistance including donating $50,000 to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to help U.S. military veterans battling cancer.
Daniels joined the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016.
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Tragic loss for his family, the nation, and the music world !!!
