Veteran Music Row Leader Terry Choate Passes

Terry Choate

Known as a consummate “song man,” Terry D. Choate died yesterday (Sept. 14) in North Carolina.

During his career on Music Row, Choate was a song plugger, record producer, label executive, music publisher, instrumentalist, audio engineer and a music supervisor for television.

In recent years, he has been noted as the producer of a string of albums by Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers. These include Pilgrimage (2009), Sing Their Family Gospel Favorites (2004), A Christmas Celebration (2003) and A Gatlin Brothers Christmas (2002). Choate also produced and championed traditionalist Teea Goans, helming her 2010 release The Way I Remember It, 2015’s Memories to Burn, 2017’s Swing, Shuffle & Sway and other recordings.

Terry Choate produced 2007’s Jumpin’ Time for Nashville’s acclaimed western-swing ensemble The Time Jumpers. The group has since been nominated for several Grammy and Americana awards.

Other production clients have included Del Reeves, Simon & Verity, Jay Booker, The Osmonds, Tammy Cline and Gene Stroman. In addition, he was a steel guitarist who appeared on records by John Conlee, Marie Osmond and others.

A native North Carolinian, Terry Choate began his show-business career by working as a radio announcer in 1968-75. He was at Tree International in 1975-84. Initially, the publishing company hired him as a song plugger. He rose to become a music manager and an in-house demo producer. He was an audio engineer on 1980 albums by Rafe Van Hoy, Bobby Braddock and Rock Killough, all of whom were Tree writers.

In 1984, new Capitol Records chief Jim Foglesong hired Terry Choate as the label’s A&R manager. The label moved into its new office at 1111 16th Ave. S. and dramatically increased the size of its staff and roster.

The artist roster included Mel McDaniel, Sawyer Brown, Michael Martin Murphey, Thom Schuyler, Lane Brody, Becky Hobbs and Anne Murray. The last-named won Single and Album of the Year CMA honors in 1984 with “A Little Good News.” Murray and Dave Loggins won Duo of the Year in 1985, the same year that Sawyer Brown won the CMA Horizon Award.

By 1987, Choate had been promoted to Director of A&R for both Capitol and its EMI America imprint. Under his leadership, the roster expanded with the additions of New Grass Revival, Tanya Tucker, Dobie Gray, Dan Seals, Barbara Mandrell, Kix Brooks, Tom Wopat, Suzy Bogguss, T. Graham Brown, Don Williams, The Osmonds and Johnny Rodriguez.

Seals won a CMA Single of the Year award for “Bop” in 1986, as well as the Duo of the Year award with Marie Osmond. Meanwhile, Capitol’s Nashville office moved into rock music in 1985-89 by signing Jason & The Scorchers, Walk the West, The Questionaires and The Thieves. In 1989, the label introduced Garth Brooks.

In addition to his label duties, Terry Choate was highly active in a number of Music Row organizations. He served as vice president of the Nashville chapter of The Recording Academy, was a board member of the NSAI and organized the annual Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductions. He became the board chair of the Nashville Songwriters Foundation. He was also a member of the AFM, the ACM and the Nashville Entertainment Association.

When Jimmy Bowen replaced Jim Foglesong, he replaced all of the latter’s Capitol executives in 1990. Choate formed his Crosswind Corporation and began to prosper as an independent record producer.

Choate had type 1 diabetes. In 2020, he was found unresponsive in a diabetic coma at his Nashville apartment. Paramedics saved his life.

In May, he developed a sepsis infection in his left foot, which had to be partially amputated the following month. Since that surgery, Choate has remained in the hospital and in hospice. He has been unconscious the majority of the time. Doctors were unable to explain why he couldn’t wake up.

His wife, Cheri, retired early from her teaching profession to care for him. Last month, a GoFundMe account was established to raise funds to help pay for the family’s mounting medical bills.

According to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame’s executive director Mark Ford, Terry Choate died Wednesday morning while in hospice care. He was 68 years old.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Fisk Leader Dr. Paul Kwami Passes

Dr. Paul T. Kwami (center) with The Fisk Jubilee Singers. Photo: Jason Davis, Getty Images for Fisk Jubilee Singers

Dr. Paul T. Kwami, the director of The Fisk Jubilee Singers died Saturday (Sept. 10) at age 70.

Kwami took the 151-year-old Nashville musical institution into the modern era. During his 28-year tenure as the group’s leader, The Fisk Jubilee Singers won its first Grammy Award, undertook its first African tour, was honored with a National Medal of Arts and entered the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, among other accomplishments.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers were Nashville’s first stars. Founded in 1871, the group popularized slave spirituals. They were the first act to circumnavigate the globe on tour and performed before all the crowned heads of Europe. The group has been recording since 1909.

Paul Theophilus Kwami was born and raised in the West African nation of Ghana. He became a pianist and music teacher before emigrating to the U.S. in 1982 to pursue graduate studies at Fisk University.

While a student in Nashville, he was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1983-85. He earned his master’s degree at Western Michigan University, then returned to Fisk to become the Jubilee Singers director in 1994.

In 1999, the singers portrayed their 19th-century musical ancestors for reenactment segments of a PBS documentary in the American Experience series. They were signed to Curb Records and released the CD In Bright Mansions in 2003. One of the CD’s tracks, “Poor Man Lazarus” won a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association.

The following year, Kwami began updating the ensemble’s repertoire and outreach. The group was soon collaborating on stages and in the studio with pop, folk, gospel and country stars, from Neil Young to Shania Twain. Among the group’s collaborators since have been Hank Williams Jr., Danny Glover, Faith Hill, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Keb’ Mo’, The Fairfield Four, Lee Ann Womack, CeCe Winans and Natalie Cole.

In 2000, the Jubilees became the subjects of the book Dark Midnight When I Rise. This evolved into an acclaimed PBS documentary film, Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory. A second book about the group was 2010’s Tell Them We Are Singing for Jesus.

In 2006, The Fisk Jubilee Singers were honored with a star on the Music City Walk of Fame. The group was celebrated at the Recording Academy Honors ceremony in Nashville, along with Loretta Lynn and others in 2007. This is also when the singers were honored with a Tennessee Governors Award in the Arts. Later that year, the choir toured Kwami’s homeland, Ghana.

The ensemble was chosen to receive a National Medal of Arts in 2008. Paul Kwami earned a doctorate of music degree from Chicago’s American Conservatory of Music in 2009.

Under Kwami’s directorship, the Fisk Jubilee Singers performed at venues including the Apollo Theatre, Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institute, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, White House and several Spanish and Italian halls.

Kwami also stepped up the group’s recording activities. Its new-millennium collections have included Sacred Journey (2007), The Fisk Jubilee Singers (2011), Roll Jordan Roll (2015) and I Want to Be Ready (2021).

Its 2021 recording Celebrating Fisk! The 150th Anniversary Album won a Grammy Award in the Best Roots Gospel Album category. Also in that year, The Fisk Jubilee Singers were honored by the Americana Music Association with the AMA’s Legacy of Americana award.

The Grammy-winning album was produced by Shannon Sanders. He reported that the current members of The Fisk Jubilee Singers gathered last week at the hospital where Kwami was ill. They sang “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” outside his room.

Paul Kwami served as a board member for the W.O. Smith Community Music School, the Nashville Advisory Council, the Gospel Music Association Foundation and the Schermerhorn Symphony Committee.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Artist Manager Jerry Bentley Passes

Jerry Bentley with Lee Greenwood

Jerry Bentley, the former manager of Lee Greenwood, passed away at his home just outside of Huntsville, Alabama on Sunday (Aug. 28). He was 80.

Bentley served as a Marine and was wounded in Vietnam in 1967. He spent 15 years at GTE before joining Greenwood’s team in 1984, becoming his closest friend and most trusted advisor for 45 years. Over the years, he worked with many of Nashville’s finest, even earning an IEBA (International Entertainment Buyer’s Association) award. In recent years he had retired to spend more time with wife Elaine, daughters Beth and Laurie, and his grandchildren, whom he treasured.

 

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“One of the finest southern gentlemen and American patriots entered his heavenly home, my manager and good friend of 45 years, Jerry Bentley,” said Lee Greenwood in a statement. “Kim, Parker, Dalton, Sarah, and our entire LG Inc family from throughout the years are lifting the Bentley family up in our prayers. Our admiration and love for all of you is endless. Thank you for all you have contributed to our family.”

Visitation for Jerry Bentley was held yesterday (Aug. 30) at Laughlin Service Funeral Home in Huntsville, Alabama. The funeral will be at 1:00 p.m. today (Aug. 31) at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Huntsville. Burial will be in Mt. Zion Cemetery.

Services Set For Noted Promoter Bob Burwell

Bob Burwell

A memorial service has been scheduled on Saturday (Aug. 27) for longtime country-music entrepreneur Bob Burwell.

Burwell died in Albany, New York on Aug. 13 at age 71. He managed, promoted or booked such artists as Kenny Rogers, Lee Roy Parnell, Steve Vai, The Oak Ridge Boys and Michael Martin Murphey. He co-created the Warner Western label and developed such major cowboy-music events as West/Fest.

Following college in New York State, Bob Burwell went to work at the Jim Halsey Company in Tulsa. He worked with Don Williams, Roy Clark, the Oaks and others there, which led him to relocate to Nashville.

On Music Row, he worked at DreamCatcher Management and Vector Management. He promoted million-selling tours by Rogers and shepherded Murphey and a generation of western-music artists, encompassing cowboy (Don Edwards, Sons of the San Joaquin), Native American (Bill Miller) and African-American (Herb Jeffries) western-music stylists.

Burwell’s annual West/Fest concerts took place in New Mexico, Texas, California and Colorado. They were succeeded by festivals that showcased this music, as well as arts, crafts, poetry and more. These took place at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

In addition to the above mentioned, the Warner Western 1992-98 label roster included Red Steagall, Waddie Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Ranger Doug, Bill & Bonnie Hearne, Rex Allen Jr., Robert Mirabal, Michael Martin Murphey, Tim Ryan and Joni Harms.

Bob Burwell is survived by wife Dana, daughter Carly, brother Mike and sister Sue Lundquist, plus many nephews, nieces and cousins. Services will be held at 10 AM at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Kemnore, 576 Delaware Rd. in Buffalo. Internment will follow at Glenwood Cemetery in Silver Creek, New York.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to MusiCares.

Carlee Ann Vaughn, Wife Of Warner Chappell’s Ben Vaughn, Passes Away

Carlee Ann Vaughn

Warner Chappell Nashville President & CEO Ben Vaughn is mourning the loss of his wife, Carlee Ann Vaughn. Carlee passed away on Tuesday (Aug. 23) following a 15-year battle with brain cancer. She was 45.

Carlee was born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in Culpeper, Virginia. She moved to Nashville in 1994 to attend Belmont University, where she met her husband Ben. The two got engaged on the University’s campus and married on May 30, 1998.

Carlee supported Ben’s successful career as a longtime music executive in Nashville, including time at EMI Music Publishing and now at Warner Chappell. According to those that know her, Carlee’s greatest calling in life was being a mother to her three children: Ruby Elisabeth, age 19, Griffin Charles, age 17, and Ezekiel Earl, age 12. When the children were younger, she wrote and sang each of them a lullaby. They always assumed it was a classic children’s song, but later found out that their mother had written it for them.

Carlee Ann Vaughn loved music, spending time with her two boys, and baking with her daughter.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that gifts be made to the Carlee Vaughn Brain Tumor Research fund in hopes that others can be helped in their journey. To make a memorial, please send a check made payable to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to:

Vanderbilt University Medical Center Development
P. O. Box 290369
525 Royal Parkway
Nashville, TN 37229

Please include a note with the check or indicate on the memo line that the gift is made in memory of Carlee Vaughn.

Gifts can also be made online at vanderbilthealth.org/giving. Please select the checkbox next to “Dedicate my donation in honor or in memory of someone.”

Crickets Bandmember J.I. Allison Passes

Jerry Ivan Allison, the last survivor of the seminal rock ’n’ roll band, The Crickets, has died at age 82.

Known as “J.I.,” he co-wrote classic songs with the band’s leader, Buddy Holly (1936-1959). Both Holly and The Crickets are in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. The Holly/Allison copyrights include “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll Be the Day.”

The group was formed in Lubbock, Texas in 1957. Holly sang and played lead guitar. Allison was the drummer. Joe B. Mauldin (1940-2015) played bass. Niki Sullivan (1937-2004) was on rhythm guitar. Sullivan soon dropped out, leaving the band as a three piece with Holly, Allison and Mauldin.

Born in 1939, Allison had been performing with Holly informally for several years before the group’s official formation. So had their boyhood friends Bob Montgomery and Sonny Curtis. Curtis recorded some pre-Crickets songs with Holly in Nashville in 1956.

The Crickets’ first recording sessions were held in Clovis, New Mexico with producer Norman Petty. From them came the band’s first hit, 1957’s “That’ll Be the Day.” This Holly/Allison song was memorably revived by Linda Ronstadt in 1976.

Sometimes billed as The Crickets and sometimes billed as Buddy Holly, the group placed 11 titles on the pop charts between 1957 and 1959. Among those songs were the Holly/Allison co-written “Think It Over” and “Peggy Sue.” The latter was named for Allison’s girlfriend and later wife, and was propelled by his relentless drumming.

Buddy Holly and The Crickets in 1957 (top to bottom: Allison, Holly and Mauldin)

Holly and Allison also co-wrote “Well All Right,” “Look at Me,” “Tell Me How” and “Early in the Morning.” The sides billed as by The Crickets were on Brunswick Records and tended to be more rock-oriented. The sides billed as by Buddy Holly were on Coral Records and leaned toward more pop in style.

Allison also recorded solo works. In 1958, he issued “Real Wild Child” billed as Ivan. It charted for five weeks, reaching No. 68. The song later became a rock classic, recorded by Iggy Pop, among others.

After Holly’s death in a 1959 plane crash (“The Day the Music Died”), Allison continued to lead The Crickets. The core of the group became Allison, Mauldin and Curtis, with various other members coming and going over the next four decades.

The Allison/Curtis composition “More Than I Can Say” was an early non-Holly Crickets favorite. Bobby Vee made it a hit in 1961, and it was revived via a 1980 hit single for Leo Sayer. Another of the band’s tunes was “I Fought the Law,” penned by Curtis. The post-Holly Crickets first charted in late 1961 with Allison’s song “He’s Old Enough to Know Better.”

The band moved from Texas to Los Angeles, signed with Liberty Records and toured with The Everly Brothers. The band became the label’s go-to session musicians, backing Eddie Cochran, Bobby Lee and Johnny Burnette. Allison also memorably drummed behind the Everlys on “Til I Kissed You.” Curtis established a solo career as a singer-songwriter while also performing as a Cricket.

In 1963, the Crickets hit the UK top 40 with “My Little Girl” and “Don’t Try to Change Me.” In 1964, the band issued “California Sun” as its contribution to the surf-rock genre. During this era, the young British musicians in The Beatles named themselves partly in homage to The Crickets.

In 1970, Allison and Curtis recorded as backing vocalists on Eric Claipton’s debut solo album. In 1972, Allison played drums on Johnny Rivers’ L.A. Reggae album. In 1976, he played on J.J. Cale’s album Troubadour. With varying personnel, The Crickets recorded throughout the 1970s,

The Crickets toured with Waylon Jennings for five years beginning in the late 1970s. This is also when the band relocated to Nashville.

In 1988, Paul McCartney produced and played piano on the band’s recording of “T-Shirt.” In the 1990s, The Crickets toured and recorded with “folkabilly” star Nanci Griffith.

The band released The Crickets and Their Buddies in 2004. The album featured collaborations with Griffith, Clapton, Jennings, John Prine, Graham Nash, Rodney Crowell and Bobby Vee, among others.

In 2007, Allison was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville. In 2012, Allsion and The Crickets were placed into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, as a belated recognition for their oversight when Holly was inducted in 1986.

The group’s final performance was on Feb. 6, 2016 at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. This was the site of Holly’s last performance in 1959.

J.I. Allison died in Nashville on Monday, Aug. 22. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Hit Songwriter Charles Quillen Passes

Award winning country songwriter Charles Quillen died last Friday in east Tennessee at age 84.

Charles Quillen

His biggest hits were the trio of chart-toppers he co-wrote for Ronnie Milsap—“Back on My Mind Again” (1979), “My Heart” (1980) and “I Wouldn’t Have Missed it for the World” (1981). The last-named was a pop-crossover success as well as a No. 1 country song.

He also co-wrote Steve Wariner’s top 10 smashes “Your Memory” (1980) and “By Now” (1981).

Charles William Quillen was born in Virginia in 1938. Following high school graduation in 1956, he served 10 years in the U.S. Army, including a year in Vietnam. After his discharge, he settled in Kingsport, Tennessee and worked at the Mead Corporation paper company.

He’d been writing songs for several years when he decided to try his luck in Nashville in 1970. The early years in Music City were lean. He began to get album cuts in 1974, then achieved major success beginning in 1978.

He co-wrote two of east Tennessee stylist Con Hunley’s biggest hits, “They Never Lost You” (1980) and “What’s New With You” (1981).

Quillen’s other chart successes included “Our Wedding Band” for Louise Mandrell and R.C. Bannon (1982), “She Used to Love Me a Lot” for David Allan Coe (1985), “I Talked a Lot About Leaving” for Larry Boone (1987), “The Jukebox Played Along” for Gene Watson (1989) and “Why Don’t That Telephone Ring” for Tracy Byrd (1993).

He returned to No. 1 in 1986 as the co-writer of John Schneider’s “What’s a Memory Like You (Doing in a Love Like This).” During his Nashville career, Charles Quillen received 12 ASCAP Awards and numerous Gold and Platinum records for his works.

His songs were recorded by such Country Music Hall of Fame members as George Strait, Conway Twitty, Charlie Louvin, Johnny Cash, Barbara Mandrell, Floyd Cramer and Charley Pride.

Among the dozens of other stars who recorded Qullen’s tunes were Blake Shelton, Moe Bandy, Wayne Newton, Sylvia, Marie Osmond, Mark Chestnutt, Jim & Jesse, Charly McClain and Ricky Van Shelton.

Always quick to praise his collaborators, Quillen called himself “blessed” to have written with such Music Row greats as Dean Dillon, Kye Fleming, Dennis Morgan, Don Pfrimmer, Conrad Pierce, John Jarrard and John Schweers.

He was known as “Downtown Charlie” to listeners of Nashville sports-talk radio programs. He was an avid Tennessee Vols fan.

Charles Quillen retired in 2005 and returned to Kingsport. He died there of an undisclosed cause on Aug. 19.

He is survived by his daughter, Allison Quillen Hurst and by his son, Joey Quillen; by two grandchildren, two sisters, a brother and several nieces nephews, cousins and extended family members.

At his request, Charles Quillen was cremated, and a memorial service will be announced at a later date. Carter Trent Funeral Home of Kingsport is serving the Quillen family.

Longtime Garth Brooks Concert Promoter Ben Farrell Passes

Ben Farrell

Longtime Nashville-based concert promoter Ben Farrell passed away on Aug. 10. He was 76.

Farrell was born in Jackson, Tennessee. His father, Kerby Farrell, was a professional baseball player and manager. The family traveled for years with Farrell developing an early love of baseball. He attended David Lipscomb University on a baseball scholarship, and in 1966 was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies and went on to play with the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox Farm Clubs. In 1968, Farrell was drafted into the U.S. Army and served two years of active service, training troops for Vietnam.

He got his start in country music in 1970 and worked in the industry for 52 years. Farrell began his career with Varnell Enterprises working alongside Lon Varnell, assisting with concert promotions, marketing and on-site supervision with artists such as Elvis Presley, Elton John, Lawrence Welk and Guy Lombardo. He remained at Varnell Enterprises his entire career, ultimately becoming the company’s President.

Farrell was most notably Garth Brooks’ concert promoter for over 30 years, first joining the country legend in 1989. Later in his career, he worked with The Statler Brothers, Merle Haggard, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Neil Diamond, The Carpenters, The Osmonds, Charley Pride, Ronnie Milsap, Barbara Mandrell and many more. In more recent years, he worked with Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean and Chris Young.

“I love Ben Farrell. And like Chris LeDoux, Ben Farrell will continue to be the kind of man I want to be. Honest, fair, and hard working. I am lucky to have known him,” Brooks shares.

Farrell is survived by his wife, Autumn, and daughter, Ella Grace.

Visitation will be held on Aug. 23 from 4-6 p.m. CT at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville, with a Celebration of Life to follow on Aug. 24 at 11 a.m. CT.

Pop And Country Great Olivia Newton-John Passes

Olivia Newton-John. Photo: Michelle Day

Grammy and CMA award winning Olivia Newton-John has died at age 73, following a long struggle with cancer.

Husband John Easterling announced her passing on social media yesterday. She died at her Southern California ranch on Monday, August 8.

Olivia Newton-John had seven top-10 country hits, including “Let Me Be There” (1973) and “I Honestly Love You” (1974). Newton-John was the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 1974. Her pop smash “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (1978) was drawn from the soundtrack of her much-loved movie musical Grease. “Physical” was No. 1 on the pop hit parade for 10 straight weeks in 1981. She has sold more than 50 million records worldwide.

Olivia Newton-John was born in England in 1948, but her family moved to Melbourne, Australia when she was five. Her parents divorced four years later, and she was raised by her mother. At age 14, she began singing with three female friends in folk and jazz clubs. A year later, her older sister got her a job on a local TV show.

This led to winning a national talent contest. The prize included passage to London and a recording contract. Her debut pop single appeared in 1966. In England, she formed the duo Pat & Olivia with singer Pat Carroll. When Newton-john returned to solo singing, Carroll’s husband John Farrar became her producer.

Her early singles included versions of the American folk song “Banks of the Ohio” and Bob Dylan’s country tune, “If Not for You.” The latter became the title tune of her debut LP in 1971. The record also included versions of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”

Executives at her record label decided to market her as a country singer. “Let Me Be There” hit the country top-10 in 1973, became a Gold Record and earned her a country-music Grammy Award. She followed it with the Gold-selling, back-to-back, top-10 country smashes “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)” and “I Honestly Love You” in 1974. The latter won the Grammy as Record of the Year, plus a pop Grammy. She was named the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year.

This created controversy in Nashville. Johnny Paycheck, Billy Walker, Jean Shepard, Bill Anderson, Barbara Mandrell and others objected to Newton-John, John Denver, Marie Osmond, Bonnie Tyler, Pia Zadora and other pop acts being embraced by country radio. Newton-John confessed that when she was told she was being marketed as “country,” she had no idea what that meant.

When the CMA voters chose her over Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and Tanya Tucker, the pot boiled over. Dissidents formed an anti-CMA organization called the Association of Country Entertainers (ACE) in protest.

“Have You Never Been Mellow” became another Gold Record country smash for the singer in 1975. Olivia Newton-John moved to the U.S. in 1976 and successfully courted Nashville when she recorded in Music City. The totally countrified “Please Mr. Please” became another Gold Record, and she recorded the works of such Nashville songwriters as Mickey Newbury, Dolly Parton, Rory Bourke and Bob Morrison. She also began to write songs, herself.

In 1976, she took Linda Hargrove’s “Let It Shine” into the country top-10. “Every Face Tells a Story” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” also became country hits that year. The latter became the title of her first Nashville-recorded album, as well as her 2018 autobiography.

She was 29 when she was reluctantly cast as teenager “Sandy” in the 1978 movie Grease. It became the most successful movie musical of all time. “You’re the One That I Want” was a duet with costar John Travolta that earned a Platinum pop record. The soundtrack’s ballad “Hopelessly Devoted to You” went Gold and became her last significant country-crossover hit.

She received the prestigious Order of the British Empire in 1979. Thus, she became Dame Olivia Newton-john.

The pop hits “Magic,” “Xanadu” (with the Electric Light Orchestra) and “Suddenly” (with Cliff Richard) emerged from the soundtrack of her 1980 film Xanadu. A year later, the Platinum-selling “Physical” became an aerobics-class staple and the biggest pop smash of her career. Olivia Newton-John’s other pop hits of the 1980s included “Make a Move on Me” (1982), “Heart Attack” (1982), “Twist of Fate” (1983) and “Soul Kiss” (1985). Elton John produced and co-wrote her 1988 single “The Rumour.”

By this time, she had racked up multiple accolades from the American Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music, ASCAP, NARM, the People’s Choice Awards, Billboard, Cashbox and Record World. She became a global touring attraction. Eight of her album earned Gold and/or Platinum certificates. She earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1983-92, she and Pat Carroll Farrar operated Koala Blue, a boutique chain selling Australian clothing and other products. She wed actor Matt Lattanzi in late 1984, and they had daughter Chloe in 1986. The couple divorced amicably in 1995.

The star’s commitment to animal welfare and ecological responsibility resulted in her 1990 appointment as the goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environmental Program. Her 1989 LP Warm and Tender contained lullabies inspired by her daughter. The record was packaged in recycled cardboard and contained tips on how to help the environment.

Olivia Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. After successful chemo, alternative medicine, a partial mastectomy and spirituality, she became a tireless advocate for breast-cancer awareness. She founded a women’s cancer center in Australia. In 1994, she released the album Gaia: One Woman’s Journey, which chronicled her ordeal.

She resumed recording country music in Nashville in 1997. She co-wrote with Gary Burr, Victoria Shaw, Annie Roboff, Chris Farren, Steve Seskin and other Music Row tunesmiths. Her resulting Back With a Heart CD was released the following year. The album’s “Love Is a Gift” won Newton-John a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song after it was featured on the soap As the World Turns.

She teamed with Shaw, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Bryan White, Billy Dean, Neal McCoy and Michael McDonald on 1998’s “One Heart at a Time.” The record was a benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Tis the Season, a Christmas album with Vince Gill, was marketed by Hallmark in 2000. Her 2006 album Grace and Gratitude coincided with the marketing of her line of women’s wellness products, both by Walgreen’s. In 2008 she wed businessman John Easterling via an Inca ceremony in Peru.

Her cancer returned in 2013, but she again persevered. In 2016, she teamed up in a female trio with Nashville’s Beth Nielsen Chapman and Canada’s Amy Sky. The album was titled Liv On. All three singer-songwriters were breast-cancer survivors. Newton-John returned to Music City to sing for Chapman at the latter’s 2016 induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Olivia Newton-John was diagnosed again in 2018, and this time she found that the cancer had metastasized to her back. She withdrew from performing and sought alternative forms of treatment. She advocated cannabis therapy; her daughter established a marijuana farm in Oregon.

In addition to her husband, Olivia Newton-john is survived by daughter Chloe Lattanzi, sister Sarah, brother Toby and 15 nieces and nephews. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Beloved Music Industry Veteran Ed Hardy Passes

Ed Hardy

Music industry veteran Ed Hardy, who served as President of Great American Country (GAC) for eight years, died on Sunday (July 31). He was 73.

Hardy was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Edward B. and Rita M. Hardy. He studied communications and journalism at Kent State University and spent 20 years as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, where he attained the rank of Major.

Hardy started his career working at local radio stations throughout Ohio. He spent much of the mid-’90s building Deschutes River Broadcasting from a single AM/FM radio in Tri-Cities, Washington, to a collection of 19 stations, operating in markets across the Pacific northwest. When he sold his radio group, it led to the growth of Citadel Radio.

In 2000, Hardy became president of MeasureCast, the internet-streaming broadcast audience measurement company. He was also a consultant to MediaBlue/Nox Solutions, the top provider of web design, hosting and fulfillment products for nationally syndicated and network radio talk show hosts.

Hardy became President of GAC in 2004 when Scripps Networks acquired the network. In his eight years with GAC, he led the network through a move to Nashville and oversaw a complete brand transformation. He announced his retirement in 2012.

Pictured (L-R): Troy Tomlinson, Sarah Trahern, Ed Hardy. Photo: Courtesy of the CMA

Hardy was a very involved Music Row executive. He served on the CMA Board of Directors from 2005 to 2017 and the CMA Foundation Board from 2014 to 2021. Hardy also acted as CMA’s interim CEO in 2013, as well as president of the Board of Directors at W.O Smith Community Music School in Nashville. He also found time to spend five years as a reserve police officer.

Hardy was the current Chairman of Music City Inc. (the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp Foundation Board). He was also active with Operation Song, which connects his military experience with his passion for music.

He received the CMA Chairman’s Award in 2013 for his outstanding service to the organization. In 2014, he was given the President’s Award from the Country Radio Hall of Fame.

Ed Hardy is survived by his wife Kim Susan Hardy; daughter Stephanie (Hardy) Kasbrick and son-in-law Jacob Kasbrick; grandchildren Emmie Jeanne and Bear Weller; and cousins Patrick M. Hardy, Thomas A. Hardy, Catherine A. Hardy and John J. Hardy.

Of Hardy’s death, CMA CEO Sarah Trahern shares, “They certainly broke the mold with Ed Hardy, and I am greatly saddened by his loss. One of my favorite memories working with Ed was when he led a coalition of us, including GAC and Scripps Networks, the NCVC and the Opry to host a nationwide telethon to help Nashville recover from the devastating 2010 floods. Thanks to his dedication, passion and refusal to take no for an answer, he made it happen and raised millions in relief. With a relentless competitive spirit, Ed aimed high and challenged those around him to do the same. He was fiercely loyal to friends, old and new, and carried an unwavering love of country music. My deepest condolences go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.”

Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp CEO Butch Spyridon shares, “Ed Hardy served this organization in so many ways–first as a broadcast partner, then a sponsor, then a board member and then chairing both the NCVC board of directors and the board of our foundation. Through that, we developed a deep friendship that transcended work. It is very unusual to have a boss, mentor and friend all at the same time. He leaves a huge void and will be missed.”

More details to come regarding a celebration of Hardy’s life to be held at the W.O. Smith School of Music.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor can be made to W.O. Smith School, Daniel’s Center at MTSU, and Operation Song.