John Anderson, the Country Music Hall of Famer behind “Swingin'” and “Straight Tequila Night,” has died. He was 71.
Anderson died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Smithville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, his team told The Tennessean. His family announced the news on his social media accounts, calling him “a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and best friend.”
“To the world, he was a gifted country music singer whose voice and songs touched countless lives,” the family statement said. “To us, he was so much more.” A cause of death was not shared.
Anderson scored 20 Top Ten country hits across a five-decade career, including “Wild and Blue,” “Black Sheep,” “Money in the Bank” and “Seminole Wind.” He won the CMA’s Single of the Year and Horizon Award in 1983, an ACM Career Achievement Award in 1994, and entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2024.
He appeared in public just days before his death, at the Hall of Fame’s Medallion Ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 18. Tim McGraw, who spoke with him there, said on Instagram that Anderson was in good spirits, adding that “there will never be a stylist in music, any music, that was so defining as his.”
Tributes poured in from across country music as the news broke Wednesday evening.
Source: TheWrap
