Waylon Jennings, the country singer who in the 1970s defined the genre's outlaw movement along with Willie Nelson, died at the age of 64, Wednesday, at his home in Chandler, Ariz.
He had struggled through a long battle with diabetes, and his left foot was amputated during the Christmas holiday season. In 2000, he had to quit a tour midway through due to health problems.
As guitarist, singer and songwriter, his five-decade career ranged from backing up Buddy Holly to narrating the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard" to induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October. He released 60 albums, had 16 No. 1 country singles and formed country music's biggest supergroup, the Highwaymen, with Johnny Cash, Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.
Jennings garnered his outlaw image primarily by refusing to play by Nashville's rules. He wore black in nearly all his appearances, refused to attend country music awards shows on the grounds that artists shouldn't compete, fought with producers and execs over getting his rough-edged sound, had a notorious drug addiction and refused to play the Grand Ole Opry because they wouldn't allow full drum kits onstage. His songs and album titles -- "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean," "I've Always Been Crazy," "Nashville Rebel," "Ladies Love Outlaws" -- often backed that image.
A deejay at 12
Jennings was born in Littlefield, Texas, and started working as a disc jockey when he was 12. As a teenager, he befriended Buddy Holly in Lubbock, eventually touring as the bassist in Holly's band the Crickets. He famously gave up his seat on the plane that would crash and kill Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, who performed as the Big Bopper.
Jennings eventually moved to Phoenix, where he developed his country act. A&M Records released his first album, "Don't Think Twice," in 1965, though Jennings said A&M was positioning him in Al Martino territory rather than where he wanted to be -- the Hank Williams camp.
RCA Records brought Jennings into the fold immediately after his debut came out. He had some early hits, but it wasn't until the 1971 release of "Singer of Sad Songs," which included "Ladies Love Outlaws" and "Lonesome On'ry and Mean," that his outlaw image took hold.
From there his album covers showed him looking unkempt and more rock 'n' roll than country until 1976's "Wanted: The Outlaws." It featured a re-creation of an old West "reward" poster with Nelson, Jessi Colter (his fourth wife, who survives him) and Tompal Glaser, giving the movement its cornerstone album, one that was billed as the first country album to sell 1 million copies. Jennings and Nelson would go on to make four other albums together.
Revolutionary album
The album, which revolutionized country music, and the single "Good Hearted Woman," elevated Jennings and Nelson to superstar status. The stellar "Waylon Live" album, also a '76 release, helped build the case for Jennings' ascension to leader of the country pack. Add to that "Luckenbach, Texas," which stayed at No. 1 on the country singles chart for six weeks and also made it into the pop top 30.
Jennings had his biggest seller with the theme song for the CBS series "The Dukes of Hazzard." The theme, subtitled "Good Ol' Boys," hit No. 21 on the pop singles chart in 1980 and sold more than a million copies. Jennings also did narration for the series and would later make several TV movie appearances, among them "Stagecoach," "Oklahoma City Dolls" and the Sesame Street movie "Follow That Bird."
In the mid-'80s he moved to MCA from RCA -- after teetering on the edge of bankruptcy -- and started working with Jimmy Bowen and recording rock material. Rather than duet with country legends on what would turn out to be his last studio album, Jennings worked with rock artists Sting, Sheryl Crow and Mark Knopfler on the 1998 album "Closing in on the Fire." Two years earlier, he appeared at three Lollapalooza shows with Metallica.
His last album, the live disc "Never Say Die Live," was recorded at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in January 2000. Universal Music's Hip-O Records has slated for release on March 5 a compilation of Jennings' early work, from what is called the "no-beard" years, titled "Phase One: The Early Years 1958-1964."
Warner Books published his autobiography "Waylon," written with former journalist-guitarist Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, in 1996. He wrote about his drug addiction, kicking a 21-year cocaine habit in 1984.
Health issues plagued Jennings throughout his life. During a bout with hepatitis in his Arizona club days, drummer Richie Albright convinced him to not leave the business. He and Cash shared a hospital room in 1989 after both had major heart surgery, and Jennings dealt with diabetes since the mid-1990s.
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