Stonewall Jackson (singer)

Stonewall Jackson (November 6, 1932 – December 4, 2021) was an American country music singer and musician who achieved his greatest fame during country's "golden" honky tonk era in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Biography

Early years

Born in Tabor City, North Carolina on November 6, 1932,^[1] Jackson was the youngest of three children. Stonewall is not a nickname; he was named after Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.^[1] His father believed himself to be a descendant of the general,^[2] a claim that was reproduced in some of Jackson's publicity, but that is unlikely.

When Stonewall was two, his father died after which his mother moved the family to Moultrie in South Georgia,^[1] where he grew up first working under his abusive sharecropper stepfather, and then under his uncle, who was also a sharecropper. Jackson lied about his age and enlisted in the Army at 16, but was soon discharged when his lie was discovered. He subsequently joined the Navy in 1950 and was discharged in 1954.^[1] He moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1956.^[1] Jackson later wrote a memoir From the Bottom Up: The Stonewall Jackson Story as Told in His Own Words about his childhood.^[2]

Recording career

After hearing Jackson's demo tape, Wesley Rose, president of Acuff-Rose Music, arranged for Jackson to audition for the Grand Ole Opry.^[1] Jackson became the first artist to join the Grand Ole Opry before obtaining a recording contract.^[3] He toured with Ernest Tubb, who became his mentor.^[4] Jackson signed with Columbia Records in 1957.^[1]

His breakthrough came in the country Top 40 in late 1958, with a song written by a young George Jones, "Life to Go".^[1] It peaked at No. 2 in early 1959 and his follow-up record, "Waterloo", was No. 1 for five weeks,^[1] and crossed over into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it reached No. 4. The track also reached No. 24 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1959.^[5] It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[6] The song was a haunting and catchy tune that states "Everybody has to meet his Waterloo", meaning their fate. The song cites Adam, Napoleon and Tom Dooley as examples.

His next No. 1 hits came in 1964 with "Don't Be Angry" and "B.J. the D.J." (Jackson's foray into the teenage tragedy song trope,^[1] about an over-worked country music radio station disc jockey, who crashes his car in a rainstorm). In 1971, Jackson was the first artist to record a live album from the Grand Ole Opry with Recorded Live At The Grand Ole Opry.^[1] His other hit songs include "The Carpet on the Floor", "Why I'm Walkin'", "A Wound Time Can't Erase", and "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water".^[1] Jackson also recorded a cover version of Lobo's 1971 hit, "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo", which became Jackson's final top 10 hit.^[1]

From 1958 to 1971, Jackson had 35 Top 40 country hits.^{[citation needed]}

Later years

In 2006, Jackson sued the Grand Ole Opry for $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages, claiming age discrimination. As a member of the Opry for over 50 years, Jackson believed management was sidelining him in favor of younger artists. In his court filing, Jackson claimed that Opry general manager Pete Fisher stated that he did not "want any gray hairs on that stage or in the audience, and before I'm done there won't be any." Fisher is also alleged to have told Jackson that he was "too old and too country".^[7] The lawsuit was settled on October 3, 2008 for an undisclosed amount and Jackson returned to performing on the show.^[8] He was a member of the Opry from 1956 until his death.^[3][9] He largely retired from performing by 2012, with his last public performance being at the funeral of his longtime friend George Jones.^[10]

Jackson lived on a farm in Brentwood, Tennessee, where his wife Juanita died on January 11, 2019.^[11] She was also his personal manager and operated his song publishing company, Turp Tunes.^[12] He has a son, Stonewall Jackson Jr.^[12]

He was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame on October 11, 2012.^[13]

Jackson died in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 4, 2021, at the age of 89, from complications of vascular dementia.^[14][15]

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

Notes

1. ^ Colin Larkin (ed.) (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music. First ed. Guinness Publishing. p. 198. ISBN 0-85112-726-6.
2. ^ Friskics-Warren, Bill (5 December 2021). "Stonewall Jackson, Grand Ole Opry Star for Over 60 Years, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
3. ^ "Stonewall Jackson". Grand Ole Opry. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
4. ^ "Grand Ole Opry country singer Stonewall Jackson dies at 89". Today.com. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
5. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th ed. London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 276. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
6. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs. 2nd ed. London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 115. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
7. ^ "Yahoo! News, 1/12/07". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 14, 2007. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
8. ^ "Stonewall Jackson's Lawsuit Against Opry Settled" Cmt.com, October 6, 2008
9. ^ "Opry Member List PDF". April 23, 2012. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
10. ^ Iasimone, Ashley (2021-12-05). "Stonewall Jackson, Longtime Grand Ole Opry Member, Dies at 89". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
11. ^ "Junita Wair Jackson Obituary". The Tennessean. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
12. ^ "Obituary: Juanita Wair Jackson". Tennessean.com. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
13. ^ "N.C. Music Hall of Fame offers tickets". The Salisbury Post. August 29, 2012. Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
14. ^ Garcia, Tony (December 4, 2021). "Longtime country singer Stonewall Jackson dies at 89". WSMV-TV. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
15. ^ "Grand Ole Opry country singer Stonewall Jackson dies at 89". Associated Press. 2021-12-05. Retrieved 2021-12-05.

Bibliography

Trott, Walt (1998). "Stonewall Jackson". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 259. ISBN 9780199840441

External links

• Allmusic overview
• Stonewall Jackson (singer) at IMDb