Country star George Hamilton IV passed away..
George Hamilton IV, a respected ‘Grand Ole Opry’ star, has died at the age of 77 after suffering a heart attack. Hamilton grew up in North Carolina listening to Hank Williams but his first success was as a pop singer, with the million-selling A Rose and a Baby Ruth in 1956. He switched to singing country music in 1959 and joined the Opry a year later after being signed to RCA Victor by the guitar maestro Chet Atkins.
He was soon racking up top 10 hits, including Before This Day Ends,Three Steps to the Phone (Millions of Miles) and If You Don’t Know I Ain’t Gonna Tell You.
His biggest hit came in 1963, with Abilene, a tribute to a Kansas town.
George Hamilton IV was always interested in recording songs by talented young folk musicians and among the people whose music he recorded were Gordon Lightfoot, Phil Ochs and John Hartford. “I just love the way that George did all my songs,” said Lightfoot. Hamilton was popular in Canada, where he had a television series and his 1967 version of Urge For Going reportedly made him the first musician to record a song written by Joni Mitchell.
Hamilton’s final Top 40 country hit came in 1973 and he became more interested in singing gospel music. But he remained interested in country music and often gave backstage tours at the Opry.
In the Nineties, he did some theatre work, playing the narrator in a production of Pasty Cline The Musical for five years, including a run in London’s West End.
Source: The Telegraph
