Died On This Date (November 23, 1992) Roy Acuff / Country Music Icon
themusicsover Roy Acuff
September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992
Roy Acuff was a country musician, singer, songwriter, promoter and publisher who was rightfully called, the King of Country Music. Acuff got his start when, in 1932, he was hired to entertain potential customers of a traveling medicine show. He left in 1934 to form his first band, the Crazy Tennesseans with whom he moved to Nashville in 1938. They were soon offered a contract with the Grand Ole Opry. In 1942, Acuff partnered with Fred Rose to open Acuff-Rose Music, which became Nashville’s biggest country music publishing company. The company quickly became very successful by hiring such songwriters as Lefty Frizzell, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson and many more. As a performer, Acuff’s career started to falter during the ’50s and ’60s due to the fickle tastes of music fans, but in the early ’70s, he experienced a bit of a comeback thanks to his appearance on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s landmark album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken. He continued to perform sporadically throughout his later life. Roy Acuff was 89 when he died of heart failure on November 23, 1992.
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