John Anderson, the traditionalist US country singer whose extensive body of work included five No 1 hits on the country charts, has died aged 71. The news was announced on social media by his family, who said: “To the world, he was a gifted country music singer whose voice and songs touched countless lives. To us, he was so much more.
He was the heart of our family, the one who made us laugh, loved us fiercely and made every ordinary moment feel special.” So woven into the culture of country music that he once worked as a roofer on the genre’s focal point, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, Anderson’s career spanned nearly 50 years and resulted in him being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2024. Among those paying tribute to Anderson was country singer and friend Blake Shelton: “I am a very lucky man. I got the opportunity to find out that my hero wasn’t just the guy I hoped he’d be.” Shelton’s wife Gwen Stefani wrote: “We loved him!!
His music is part of our family’s hearts for ever!!” Born and raised in Florida in a music-loving family whose tastes spanned big band jazz to the Rolling Stones, Anderson headed to Nashville after graduating high school to try to make it in the city’s country music scene by playing live sets at night while doing manual labour during the day. A lot of odd jobs, but never lost sight of the fact that I really wanted to play,” he said in 2024. Writing his own material as well as performing that of others, he released his debut single in 1975, but broke through two years later with I’ve Got a Feelin’ (Somebody’s Been Stealin’), and inched his way up the country charts with each subsequent release.
He had his first country Top 5 single in 1981, I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday), which earned him his only Grammy nomination, for best male vocal country performance – and was a typical showcase of his wry, earnest and pure vocal tone. It ushered in a number of years of commercial success, with the songs Wild and Blue, Black Sheep and Swingin’ all becoming country chart-toppers – the slick, hard-driving sound of the latter gave it crossover appeal and it became Anderson’s only hit on the US pop chart. The latter half of the decade was a frustrating time for Anderson as he was dropped by his label Warner Bros and shuttled between others, before finding his groove again with 1992 album Seminole Wind, containing three Top 3 hits; the title track, an ode to his birth state of Florida, and Straight Tequila Night have endured as country radio staples and streaming successes.
Follow-up Solid Ground was also a hit, containing the chart-topping Money in the Bank. Anderson ended up recording 22 studio albums, most recently 2020’s Years, recorded with Dan Auerbach of blues-rockers the Black Keys. That was a proud and hard-fought return for Anderson, who faced illness with a non-cancerous tumour in 2017 that left him hospitalised.
I just started praying and praying harder than I’ve ever prayed in my life and you know what? My hearing started coming back.” Anderson continued to perform live thereafter, saying in 2024 that since his recovery, “I’ve really been enjoying every day. I live out in the woods and take a lot of lessons from my little wildlife friends.
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