Nashville singer-songwriter Michael Johnson died at age 72 while in hospice care in Minneapolis on Tuesday, July 25.

Johnson made his mark in Music City as both a pop and country hit maker. His Nashville-recorded “Bluer Than Blue” became a No. 1 A/C hit and a major pop success in 1978. He repeated the feat with “This Night Won’t Last Forever” the following year.

In the 1980s, he made the transition to being a country music hit maker with “Give Me Wings,” “The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder” and other singles.

Johnson was successful in folk music, as well as in the pop and country fields. Born in Colorado in 1944 [August 8], he took up the guitar at age 13. He won a talent contest that led to a recording contract when he was a college student. He then studied classical guitar in Spain. Back in the U.S., he joined the folk group The New Society, which featured former New Christy Minstrels leader Randy Sparks.

In 1967, Johnson joined The Chad Mitchell Trio. At the time, the group included John Denver, with whom Johnson became a songwriting collaborator. The two also toured together after their Trio gig ended. Next, Johnson became a member of the touring company of the off-Broadway musical “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in
Paris.”

Returning to solo record making, Michael Johnson recorded three folk-pop albums in 1973-76 for Atco Records. After that, he settled in Nashville.

Working with Brent Maher and Steve Gibson, he recorded Randy Goodrum’s song “Bluer Than Blue.” It earned him an EMI America contract and became a big hit. Working for the same label, Johnson charted four other titles on the pop charts in 1978-80, including 1979’s “This Night Won’t Last Forever,” penned by Nashville’s Bill LaBounty with Roy Feeland.

In 1985, Michael Johnson signed with the country division of RCA Records. Late that year, he scored a top-10 hit as the duet partner of the label’s Sylvia with “I Love You By Heart.” His country solo career was introduced with his self-penned “Gotta Learn to Live Without Her” in 1986.

“Give Me Wings,” written by Kye Fleming and Don Schlitz, became a No. 1 country smash for Johnson in late 1986. Hugh Prestwood’s “The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder,” became Johnson’s second No. 1 country hit in early 1987.

Johnson co-wrote “Crying Shame” with Brent Maher and Don Schlitz. It returned him to the country Top 10 list in late 1987. He then sang Randy Vanwarmer’s “I Will Whisper Your Name” and Prestwood’s “That’s That,” both of which became Top 10 country hits in 1988.

Michael Johnson continued to record as a country artist for Atlantic (1991-92) and Vanguard (1995). He was the cowriter of the 1995 4 Runner country single “Cain’s Blood.”

Johnson recorded duets with Juice Newton in 1991 (“It Must Be You”) and Alison Krauss in 1997 (“Whenever I Call You Friend”), the latter of which became a video release. He also became a popular troubadour at The Bluebird Café, for whom he recorded a live CD in 2000.

His later albums were also released by such independent labels as Intersound (1997), Yellow Rose (2005) and Red House (2012).

He underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2007. A charitable fund called “Friends of Michael Johnson” was established to help with his medical expenses at the time.

Funeral arrangements for Johnson are still pending.

Robert Gene “Red” West was an actor, a bodyguard, a hit songwriter, a karate instructor, an author, a Hollywood stunt man and a boxer, but will be forever remembered as a founder of Elvis Presley’s “Memphis Mafia” of inner-circle buddies.

West died on July 18 at age 81 in Memphis. He reportedly suffered an aortic aneurism while at Baptist Memorial Hospital there.

The athletic, 6’2” West first befriended Presley when both were students at Humes High School in Memphis. The football player protected the future star from bullies, which prefigured his later role as Presley’s bodyguard. In 1955-56 he drove the emerging recording artist to his show dates, beginning their long professional relationship.

Red West was an ex-Marine, a Golden Gloves competitive boxer and a karate instructor who spent 20 years with Presley. Along with his cousin Sonny West, plus Junior Smith, Cliff Gleaves, Charlie Hodge, Lamar Fike, Joe Esposito, Gene Smith, David Hebler, Jerry Schilling, Alan Fortas, Billy Smith and Marty Lacker, he was one of the superstar’s constant companions.

Many other relatives, friends, employees, confidantes and assorted “yes” men were also part of this entourage over the years. They served as bodyguards, girl-procurers, chauffeurs, drug sources, car buyers, sports-team members, road managers, juvenile pranksters and foils for Presley’s whims. Although few of them were actually paid salaries, they were rewarded with many lavish gifts. The press dubbed them “The Memphis Mafia” in 1962.

Unlike many of the others, Red West displayed other talents. He became a stunt man on the Nick Adams TV series The Rebel in 1959-61 and appeared in the 1965 Robert Conrad series The Wild, Wild West.

On the big screen, Red West took roles in Two for the Seesaw (1962), The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Walking Tall (1973). He also had small parts in many Presley films, such as Flaming Star (1960), Blue Hawaii (1961), Viva Las Vegas (1964) and Live a Little, Love a Little (1968).

In addition, West co-wrote several of the star’s songs, including “Separate Ways” (1973), “If Every Day Was Like Christmas” (1966), “If You Think I Don’t Need You” (1972), “That’s Someone You Never Forget” (1967) and “If You Talk in Your Sleep” (1974).

West’s co-written “I’m a Fool” was recorded by both Rick Nelson and Dino, Desi & Billy, for whom it became a 1965 hit. His songs were also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis (“Set My Mind at Ease”), Pat Boone (“A Thousand Years”), Little Milton (“If You Talk in Your Sleep”), Johnny Burnette (“Big, Big World”) and others.

Presley’s father, Vernon Presley, fired Red West in 1976, supposedly as a cost-cutting measure. The following year, West co-wrote the first of the Presley “tell-all” books, Elvis: What Happened. This was the memoir that unveiled the superstar’s drug abuse. Presley died of drug complications two weeks after the book’s publication.

Red West’s acting career thrived in subsequent years. His later movie credits include the memorable Patrick Swayze feature Road House (1989), plus The Legend of Grizzly Adams (1990), Natural Born Killers (1994), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Cookie’s Fortune (1999), Glory Road (2006), The Rainmaker (1997), Forty Shades of Blue (2005) and the critically acclaimed Goodbye Solo (2008).

He also had recurring roles in the TV series “Black Sheep Squadron” (1976) and “The Duke” (1979). Over the years, West appeared on such TV shows as “The A-Team,” “Knight Rider,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Bonanza,” “Get Smart,”
“The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Fall Guy.”

Red West’s survivors include his wife of 56 years, Pat — who was one of Presley’s secretaries — and sons John and Brent.

Gregg Allman, a Nashville native who rose to become a member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, died at age 69 on Saturday, May 27, at his home near Savannah, GA. As the lead singer of The Allman Brothers Band, he was the voice behind such huge fan favorites as “Whipping Post” (1969), “Dreams,” (1969), “Revival (Love Is Everywhere)” (1971), “Melissa” (1972), “Statesboro Blues” (1971) and “One Way Out” (1972). In addition to singing them, he was the writer of the first four songs.

With his tattoos and long blonde hair, Gregg Allman was the visual focus of the band, as well. As a solo artist, he was famed for such performances as “Midnight Rider” (1974), which he also wrote, and “I’m No Angel” (1987). Both as a solo artist and with The Allman Brothers, he was a recurring visitor to Nashville’s recording studios and concert venues.

The Allman Brothers were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. The group received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. It earned seven Gold and four Platinum record awards.

Allman earned an additional two Gold albums for his solo work. Gregory LeNoir Allman was born at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville in 1947, a little more than a year after his brother Duane Allman (1946-1971) was born in the same hospital. Their father died when Gregg was two years old, and the boys were raised by their widowed mother.

In his autobiography My Cross to Bear, Gregg Allman recalled spending a great deal of time at his grandmother’s house on 18th Avenue South, near what is now Music Row. That residence no longer stands. But his mother’s house on Scotland Place off Leake Avenue still exists.

To further her lot in life, she went back to school to become a CPA and sent her sons to Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, TN when Gregg was eight. Gregg and Duane returned to Music City in 1958. They moved with their mother to Florida when Gregg was 12.

Duane developed into an outstanding slide guitarist. Gregg played keyboards and sang. Music took over their lives. Their grades suffered so badly that they were sent back for a second stint at Castle Heights.

Deeply influenced by the blues records they heard on Nashville’s WLAC radio, they formed their Allman Joys band. They spent the summer of 1965 in Nashville being mentored by songwriter John D. Loudermilk (1934-2016).

In 1966, they returned to Nashville for a residency at a club called The Briar Patch. During their stay, producer Buddy Killen (1932-2006) recorded what became the sole LP by The Allman Joys. It contained several of Gregg Allman’s earliest songwriting efforts.

The group became Hour Glass and recorded two LPs in Los Angeles in 1967 and 1968. Gregg remained in California to work on his songwriting while Duane became a session guitarist in Muscle Shoals, AL. In Jacksonville, FL, Duane assembled what became The Allman Brothers Band and urged Gregg to join him there.

After the group relocated to Macon, GA, the million-selling albums At Fillmore East (1971) and Eat a Peach (1972) made The Allman Brothers rock superstars. The band pioneered the style known as Southern rock music. This led to the modern jam-band scene and to festivals such as Middle Tennessee’s Bonnaroo.

The motorcycle-crash deaths of Duane Allman in 1971 and Barry Oakley in 1972 devastated The Allman Brothers Band. Gregg reconstituted the group, which released its biggest hit LP, Brothers and Sisters, in 1973. The band was nominated for a Grammy in 1979.

The Allman Brothers Band recorded its 1981 CD Brothers of the Road in Music City. By then, Gregg Allman had also launched a solo career and become a very public persona via his 1975-79 marriage to Cher.

Allman appeared at Volunteer Jam XII, staged by Charlie Daniels at Nashville’s Starwood Amphitheater, in 1986.

In 1989, he reconstituted The Allman Brothers Band, incorporating Nashville rock musicians Warren Haynes, Allen Woody (1965-2000) and Johnny Neel. The band won a rock-instrumental Grammy Award in 1996. Gregg Allman was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2006. In various incarnations, The Allman Brothers persevered until 2014.

Gregg Allman was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2008 and received a transplant in 2010. In 2011, he released a critically acclaimed comeback solo album, the Grammy-nominated Low Country Blues. But lung surgery and addiction recovery sidelined him while promoting it.

He published his autobiography in 2012. It became a New York Times best-seller.

In 2015, he was the focus of All My Friends, a tribute album that included performances by Nashvillians Vince Gill, Eric Church, Brantley Gilbert, John Hiatt, Trace Adkins, Martina McBride and Keb Mo. By then, Allman knew that his cancer had returned, but he kept it from the public.

Allman’s final Nashville appearance was on the live streamed concert series Skyville Live in December 2015. On that show, he was saluted by Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town and Taj Mahal. His last concert was in October last year. In March, he announced that his touring days were over.

Gregg Allman was married and divorced six times. He is survived by wife Shannon and by his five children — Michael Sean, Devon, Elijah Blue, Delilah Island and Layla Brooklyn — as well as by three grandchildren.

According to Variety, Allman will be buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, next to brother Duane and band mate Barry Oakley (1948- 1972). His mother’s ashes will be interred there as well — they have been in his home since her death in 2015.

A posthumous Gregg Allman album, Southern Blood, is scheduled for release in September.

Her official obituary in Gallatin listed her as Joyce Elene Johnston, but as Joy Byers or J. Byers, she was a prolific pop and country songwriter.

Byers died at age 82 on May 10.

Her copyrights include “What’s A Matter Baby,” a 1962 pop hit for Timi Yuro, as well as Brenda Lee’s 1964 pop single “When You Loved Me,” “Wishing It Was You” by Connie Francis in 1965 and the novelty “Ring Dang Doo’ by Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs in 1966.

Byers is perhaps best remembered as the writer of the Elvis Presley 1964 hit “It Hurts Me.” She went on to write or co-write 16 songs for Presley’s movies, including the charted “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me’ (1966) and “Let Yourself Go” (1968). Her country top-10 hits included “Gardenias in Her Hair” by Marty Robbins in 1967, “Here Comes Heaven” by Eddy Arnold in 1968 and “I Can’t Say Goodbye” by Marty Robbins in 1969.

Joy Byers is also credited on songs recorded by The Orlons, Arthur Alexander, Gene Vincent, Bill Haley & The Comets, Rick Nelson, Solomon Burke, Steve Alaimo, Hank Locklin, Nancy Sinatra, The 5 Royales, Del Shannon, Betty Everett, Joe Henderson, Anita Bryant, Jimmy Church, Joe Hinton, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis and Big Al Downing, among others.

She was the widow of Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash/Leonard Cohen record producer Bob Johnston (1932-2015).

Joy Byers is survived by son Kevin, three grandchildren and two nieces. According to The Tennessean, a private memorial for her will be held at a later date. Online condolences may be submitted at alexanderfh.info. (real name: Joyce Alene Byers Johnston).