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Grand Ole Opry Legend Killed in Crash
In the early 1950s, Texas son Billy Walker helped do for honky-tonk what Elvis Presley did for rockabilly. Unfortunately, the contributions Walker made to the country music scene over the years can now, like Presley's, only be heard on records.
Walker, his wife, Bettie, and two of his band members, bass player Charles Lilly Jr. and guitarist Daniel Patton Sr., died Sunday in a car wreck near Montgomery, Alabama. Walker was 77 and Bettie was 61. Their grandson, Joshua Brooks, 21, who was also riding in the vehicle, is in critical condition at an Alabama hospital.
According to state troopers, Walker and the others were killed when the van they were riding in on Interstate 65 veered off the road and overturned.
A member of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville since 1960, Walker was on his way back to Tennessee after performing at the Palm Lake Opry & RV Park in Foley, Alabama, according to the Tennessean newspaper.
"He couldn't have been more supportive," country star Brad Paisley told the Tennessean, discussing how Walker took younger performers under his wing while still promoting the importance of country's veterans to the scene. The "Charlie's Shoes" singer introduced Paisley's first appearance at the Opry in 1999.
?I remember that he came to my first gold-record party, and I?ll always remember his charismatic presence when he was on stage," Paisley said. "He never seemed old to me, which is another thing that is so hard about this.?
Bettie and Billy reportedly were constant companions, with Mrs. Walker booking all of her husband's concert dates and making travel arrangements for him. She also organized the Golden Voice Awards, which honors country music performers who have made long-lasting contributions to the business.
?I?ve never known someone as good at organizing things as Bettie,? family friend and Opry member Jeannie Seely told the Tennessean. ?She worked tirelessly, and she was never afraid to step up and ask for something or stand up for something she believed in.?
Walker, known for much of his career as the Traveling Texan, will be laid to rest alongside his wife in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
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