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:Another George Jones (U.S. Senator)|George Jones
was a U.S. Senator from Georgia (U.S.
state)|Georgia in 1807.
:For the United States Senator from Iowa named
George Jones, see George W. Jones.



George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931),
nicknamed The Possum, is an American country
singer known for his distinctive voice and
phrasing that frequently evoke the raw emotions
caused by grief, unhappy love, and emotional
hardship.  He is second to Eddy Arnold in the
number of songs he had has on the country charts. 
Since at least the early 1980s he has frequently
been referred to as "the greatest living country
singer."  Almost as often he is called "the
Rolls-Royce of country singers."  Frank Sinatra
once called him "the second best white male
singer."

Jones was born with a broken arm in Saratoga,
Texas and grew up in the settlements north of
Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont around the Big Thicket.
By age 24, he had been married twice, served in
the Marines, and developed his skills as a country
musician and singer. "Why Baby Why" was his first
top-five hit in 1955.  

Jones' drinking was legendary and for a great part
of his life he woke up to a Bloody Mary
(cocktail)|Bloody Mary and spent the rest of the
day drinking bourbon whiskey|bourbon. In the mid
1970s he added cocaine to whiskey.  His
self-destructive bent brought him close to death
and from the height of fame in the '70s to the
inside of a mental hospital in Alabama at the end
of the decade. During this period, he missed so
many booked engagements that he was known as
"No-Show" Jones. 

His third wife, Tammy Wynette, was the passion of
his life.  The pair were married in 1969 and
performed a string of duets together but Tammy
could not keep him off the booze and after a
turbulent relationship the couple divorced in
1975.  It was his fourth (and present) wife, Nancy
Sepulvado, whom Jones credits for rescuing him
from the bottle.  The pair were married in 1983
and they live outside the town of Franklin,
Tennessee.

In his biography I lived to Tell It All, published
in 1996, Jones sets out a chronicle of his life
and his bad behaviour.

Despite the hard living, hard drinking past,
George Jones continues to make albums and play to
his loyal fans.  He spends up to 165 days a year
on the road. 

==Discography==
Details of George's singles and albums can be
found at 
http://www.georgejones.com/music/index.htm George
Jones

==Further reading and reference==
* In The Country of Country: A Journey to the
Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff,
Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-375-70082-x

==See also==
* Academy of Country Music
* List of country musicians
* Country Music Association
* List of best-selling music artists