Charlie Daniels died today (July 6, 2020) from a hemorrhagic stroke at age 83. The devil went down to Georgia and Charlie Daniels just went up to Heaven.
“Country music and southern rock legend Charlie Daniels has passed. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member died this morning at Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, Tennessee” according to a statement by Charlie’s publicist.
Daniels will be memorialized at a public service Friday, July 10 at 11:00 a.m./CT at World Outreach Church, located at 1921 State Hwy 99 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Gretchen Wilson and Trace Adkins will perform to honor the life of Daniels. The funeral will be led by SiriusXM’s Storme Warren and pastor Allen Jackson.
The service will be livestreamed via World Outreach Church’s Facebook Page as well as The Charlie Daniels Band Facebook Page and Charlie Daniels YouTube Channel.
A private burial will follow at Mt. Juliet Memorial Gardens in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be addressed to The Journey Home Project. Donations can be made online (thejourneyhomeproject.org) or by mail (17060 Central Pike, Lebanon, TN 37090).
Charlie Daniels Funeral Procession
-Friday, July 10 at 8:00 a.m./CT – procession departs Sellars Funeral Home (2229 North Mt. Juliet Rd, Mt. Juliet, TN)
-Industrial Dr. to Golden Bear Gateway
-Golden Bear Gateway to Interstate 40
-Interstate 40 to Hwy 109
-Hwy 109 to Interstate 840
-Interstate 840 to Interstate 24
-Interstate 24 to World Outreach Church (1921 State Hwy 99 in Murfreesboro, TN)
-11:00 a.m./CT service at World Outreach Church
-Following funeral service, procession departs church for cemetery for private burial
-Interstate 24 to 840
-Interstate 840 to Interstate 109
-Interstate 109 to Interstate 40
-Interstate 40 to Mt. Juliet Rd
-Mt. Juliet Rd to Mt. Juliet Memorial Gardens (W Division St, Mt. Juliet, TN)
From his Dove Award-winning gospel albums to his genre-defining southern rock anthems and his CMA Award-winning country hits, few artists have left a more indelible mark on America’s musical landscape than Charlie Daniels. An outspoken patriot, beloved mentor, and a true road warrior, Daniels parlayed his passion for music into a multi-platinum career and a platform to support the military, underprivileged children, and others in need. The Charlie Daniels Band has long populated radio with memorable hits and his signature song, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Over the course of his career, Daniels received numerous accolades, including his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame and becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Daniels helped to shine the spotlight on the many causes that are close to his heart. He was a staunch supporter of the military and gave his time and talent to numerous charitable organizations, including The Journey Home Project, that he founded in 2014 with his manager, David Corlew, to help veterans of the United States Armed Forces.
RIP Charlie Daniels. Thanks for the music and the memories. The devil went down to Georgia and Charlie Daniels just went up to Heaven.Click To TweetThe boy said, “my name’s Johnny
And it might be a sin
But I’ll take your bet
And you’re gonna regret
‘Cause I’m the best there’s ever been”
But I ain’t asking nobody for nothin’
If I cant get it on my own
If you don’t like the way I’m livin’
You just leave this long-haired country boy alone
Some glad mornin’ when this life is over
I’ll fly away
To a home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away
I wrote these words for Charlie’s biography. They ring even more true now.
I’m so sad he’s gone.
We have so many memories together, and I am so blessed to have known him.
Rest In Peace my friend. We love you. @CharlieDaniels pic.twitter.com/3Pg5eWPtIf— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 6, 2020
Thank @CharlieDaniels you for teaching us all the difference between a violin and a fiddle. I hope you enjoy your new one made of gold. pic.twitter.com/5hKu2wgDSl
— Jamey Johnson (@jamey_johnson) July 6, 2020
“There are few artists that touched so many different generations in our business than Charlie Daniels did,” says Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “Today, our community has lost an innovator and advocate of Country Music. Both Charlie and Hazel had become dear friends of mine over the last several years, and I was privileged to be able to celebrate Charlie’s induction into the Opry as well as tell him that he was going to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. I will always remember the look of sudden shock and delight on his face as he realized he would be in the Hall of Fame Rotunda for the ages. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends at this sad time.”
Born 1936 in Wilmington, NC, steeped in musical traditions ranging from folk and bluegrass to gospel, Country and rock, Daniels was a pioneer in introducing southern rock sounds into mainstream Country Music. In the process, he widened Country’s popularity by bringing millions of young people to a greater appreciation of their Country Music heritage, established musical alliances with a wide variety of artists in Country and other music fields, and helped take Country to deeper levels of American culture. Critical to this achievement was his session work on Bob Dylan albums recorded in Nashville in the 1960s, including Nashville Skyline. Daniels also supported Ringo Starr on Starr’s Beaucoups of Blues. “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and the Charlie Daniels Band were featured in the landmark film “Urban Cowboy” in 1980, a movie that helped ignite a boom in Country Music’s popularity and widened its audience across the nation.
According to the RIAA, Daniels’ lifetime record sales exceeded 13.5 million units. This put him in the ranks with musical legends like Paul Simon, John Lennon, Natalie Cole, Yes, the Temptations, and Jefferson Airplane. When Daniels was signed for $3 million by Epic Records in New York in 1976, the contract set a record for a Nashville act. Over the course of his career, Daniels had nine Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum albums. Super Hits went double Platinum, Million Mile Reflection went triple Platinum, and A Decade of Hits went quadruple Platinum. His longform video, “Homefolks and Highways” went Gold while his single, “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” became a Country Music rarity, achieving Platinum certification. It was the CMA Single of the Year in 1979 and earned the Charlie Daniels Band a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. It crossed over to become a Top 5 pop smash as well. Daniels was also named CMA Instrumentalist of the Year in 1979. The Charlie Daniels Band won CMA Instrumental Group of the Year Awards in 1979 and 1980, marking a total of four CMA Awards throughout his career. Daniels became a Grand Ole Opry cast member in 2008 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016.
Daniels placed 34 songs on the Billboard Country charts. In addition to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” his other Top 10 hits were “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye” (1985) and “Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues” (1988). “Uneasy Rider,” one of his Country chart-making singles, was also a Top 10 pop hit in 1973. Besides “The Devil Want Down to Georgia,” which went No.1 Country and No. 3 pop in 1979, other pop successes were his 1975 singles “The South’s Gonna Do It Again” and “Long Haired Country Boy,” both of which became staples of his live shows. He also charted in the pop Top 30 with “In America” (1980) and “Still In Saigon” (1982). His earliest songwriting success came in 1964 when his co-written “It Hurts Me” became a Top 30 pop hit for Elvis Presley.
Prior to gaining solo stardom, Daniels was a session musician, mostly in Nashville for artists including Marty Robbins, Claude King, Flatt & Scruggs, Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen, Al Kooper, Ringo Starr and, most famously, Bob Dylan. Daniels can be heard on Dylan’s Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait, and New Morning albums of 1969-1970. In 2014, he released Off the Grid – Doin’ It Dylan, a collection of Dylan songs rendered Daniels style.
Among Daniels’s most impressive accomplishments was the 1974 launch of his Volunteer Jam. These annual, multi-artist, multi-genre extravaganzas, sometimes stretching past 10 hours in length, became must-see musical spectacles for thousands. Country legends such as Ray Price, Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Alabama, Vince Gill, and Tammy Wynette have shared bills with acts as diverse as Ted Nugent, B.B. King, James Brown, Billy Joel, Eugene Fodor, Little Richard, Steppenwolf and Don Henley. The Volunteer Jam Tour, including The Charlie Daniels Band, The Outlaws, and The Marshall Tucker Band toured the United States in 2007.
Daniels’ charity work was extensive. Cancer research, muscular dystrophy research, physically and mentally challenged individuals, children, farmers, and the armed forces have benefited from his efforts. His charity Christmas concert benefiting children became a Nashville holiday institution. In recognition of his “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers,” Daniels was honored as a BMI Icon in 2005.
source: Absolute Publicity, Country Music Association
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