Biography

His mentor was Hank Williams.

Other major hits included "Please Release Me" (1954), "Heartaches by the Number" (1959, No. 2, spent 40 weeks on the charts), "Make the World Go Away" (1963, later recorded by Eddy Arnold), "Night Life" (also 1963, written by Willie Nelson), "The Other Woman (in My Life)" (1966), "Danny Boy" (1967), "Angels and Love Songs" (1975), "It Don't Hurt Half as Bad" (1981) and "Diamonds in the Stars" (1982). Also had a couple of duet hits with Willie Nelson, the biggest of which was "Faded Love" (1980, re-recording of the old Bob Wills tune that Patsy Cline made very popular.

The No. 1 hits include "Crazy Arms" (20 weeks, 1956), "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You" (1957), "City Lights" (13 weeks, 1958), "The Same Old Me" (1959), "For the Good Times" (1970), "I Won't Mention it Again" (1971), "She's Got to Be a Saint" (1972) and "You're the Best Thing That's Ever Happened to Me" (1973). Of those, it was "For the Good Times" -- which spent just one week at No. 1 but spent nearly six months on the charts -- that became his signature song.

Had a long string of hits on Billboard magazine's country singles chart from 1951 to 1982, including eight No. 1 hits.

He studied to be a veterinarian at North Texas Agricultural College, before deciding a career in music.