Happy 80th Willie Nelson!!

Well after all the obituaries we've had around here of late it's great to be able to celebrate a good ol' birthday. Happy birthday to Willie Nelson who turned 80 years old today. Here's a fairly new one by Willie ... a new gospel song as he says, called "Roll me up and smoke me when I die" which is also the name of his new autobiography, memoirs, musings.

RIP George Jones

"The Possum" has died. From gritty Texas honky tonks to the glitzy country of Nashville George Jones had the golden voice that most could only envy. During his fiery marriage to Tammy Wynette in the 1970's the couple became "Mr. and Mrs. Country Music" and toured extensively, but their tempestuous relationship was marked by alcohol abuse and even gunplay, and ended after six years mostly due to Jones' alcoholism.

Throughout his long career, Jones made headlines often as much for tales of his extreme drinking, stormy relationships with women, and violent rages as much as for his prolific career of making records and touring and this wild lifestyle led to Jones missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones."

As Waylon Jennings once said though, "If we could all sing like we wanted to, we'd all sing like George Jones."

RIP Ritchie Havens

Ritchie Havens, who famously opened the '69 Woodstock Festival with a 3 hour long set, has died of a heart attack in New Jersey. He was 72.