George Jones tours Montana on heels of Lifetime Achievement Award
Published: January 20, 2012
“There’s no mistaking his influence,” noted the Washington Post of George Jones. “His name is synonymous with emotionally unvarnished and unguarded honky-tonk music, a rallying cry for singers half his age.”
He’ll receive a Lifetime Achievement Award during an invitation-only celebration Feb. 11, and be honored again during the Grammy Awards telecast, Feb. 12 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, before heading to Montana for two concerts.
Jones, who was slung with the nickname “The Possum” by a couple of radio DJs in the ’50s, performs Feb. 29 at the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings and March 6 at the University Theatre in Missoula. Show time is 7:30 p.m.
Over the past 20 years, he has frequently been referred to as “the greatest living country singer,” tallying more than 150 hits, both as a solo artist and in duets.
Jones picked up his first guitar at age nine and by 16 he was singing on the radio. He posted his first country hit in 1959 with “White Lightning,” and the No. 1 hits kept coming with “Tender Years,” “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Window Up Above,” “The Race Is On” and “Walk Through This World With Me.”
He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and received the National Medal of Arts in 2002. “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Jones’s signature song, was named Song of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1981 and 1982 and also earned him his first Grammy Award.
But his career was marred by alcoholism and drug abuse, earning him a second nickname, “No Show Jones.” The country icon has admitted that drugs became a bad habit that he let overshadow his career.
“I think about the dates that I missed, and I’ll see those mamas and daddies and some grandkids walking down the old country dirt road … walking to town maybe a mile, and they’ve been saving their money for a couple months just to get there and to be let down. I guess that hurts me worse than anything else,” he says.
Sober for more than 10 years now, “Nobody calls me ‘No Show’ any more,” says Jones. At 80, he continues to perform more than 60 shows a year.
His latest release, Burn Your Playhouse Down, features unreleased duets with guests including his ex-wife, Tammy Wynette, and their daughter, Georgette.
Tickets are $51-$56 to the Billings show; call 877-321-2074 or 406-256-6052 or order online at www.albertabairtheater.org. Tickets to the Missoula concert are $55-$75; call 243-4051 or 888-MONTANA or visit www.griztix.com.
