Buck Owens, the Bakersfield rebel who brought a distinctly California flavor to country music in the 1950s and '60s and built a Central Valley-based multimedia empire belying his "Hee Haw"-bred bumpkin persona, died Saturday. He was 76.
Owens died at his home in Bakersfield, said Jim Shaw, the family's spokesman and longtime member of his Buckaroos band. The cause of death was not immediately known, but the country music giant who charted 21 No. 1 country singles from 1963 to 1988, among them "Act Naturally," "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" and "Streets of Bakersfield," had been in declining health for years after undergoing surgery for throat cancer in 1993.
Just hours before he died, Owens was on stage Friday night with the Buckaroos singing at his $5-million Bakersfield nightclub and restaurant, Buck Owens' Crystal Palace, something he'd done routinely since opening it almost 10 years ago.
Buck Owens obituary: The Section A article Sunday on the death of country singer Buck Owens reported that a 1992 survey in Worth magazine identified him as the richest person in Bakersfield. The survey was published in 2002.
Buck Owens obituary: The obituary of country singer Buck Owens in Section A on March 26 reported that his third wife was named Jennifer. His third wife was Jana Jae and his fourth was Jennifer Smith. All four marriages ended in divorce.
"He mentioned that onstage: 'If somebody's come all that way, I'm gonna do the show and give it my best shot. I might groan and squeak, but I'll see what I can do,' " Shaw said. "He died in his sleep -- they figure it was about 4:30 [a.m.] -- probably of heart failure. So he had his favorite meal, played a show and died in his sleep. We thought, that's not too bad."
In the 1950s, when the music coming out of country capital Nashville was laden with swelling violins, swirling piano fills and choirs of background singers, Owens put out stripped-down records that were part Chuck Berry and part Hank Williams. His recordings jumped with stinging electric guitar work by his close friend and musical partner Don Rich, further punched up by an energetic rhythm section.
"I don't think there have ever been two people in this business closer than Don and I," Owens said backstage after a rare L.A. performance at the House of Blues in 1998. "It's like we could read each other's minds."
- Funeral Services for Buck Owens Mar 29, 2006
- Owens' Illness Changes Plans of Crazy Horse Nov 16, 1999
- LETTERS - A fond look back at Buck Owens Oct 28, 2007
