News 4 Nashville
By Tony Garcia
December 4, 2021
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – The country music world lost one of its legends today.
Longtime country music performer Stonewall Jackson passed away Saturday morning after a long battle with vascular dementia, according to a Jackson family member.
Stonewall came to Nashville in 1956 from Tabor City, North Carolina, looking to sing his songs for anyone who will hear it.
He famously walked into one of Nashville’s top publishing companies at the time, Acuff-Rose, just to “see if anybody in country music would talk to me.”
Stonewall’s songs quickly earned him a meeting with the founder of the Grand Ole Opry, George D. Hay, and its manager, W.D. Kilpatrick. Jackson recalls, “They took me down the hall and signed me to a regular member’s contract…I’ve been here ever since.”
Before Stonewall’s career took flight, he spent his time shipping Opry souvenir books from the basement of the National Life Building, according to the Opry website.
His first hit, “Life to Go,” changed everything in 1958.
Stonewall recorded several hit country songs in the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as “Smoke Along the Track,” “B.J. the D.J.,” and “Waterloo,” which became his signature tune.
Over his career, Stonewall would record 44 singles that placed on the Billboard country charts.
Stonewall is credited with the first “live” album recorded at the Ryman Auditorium, with his Recorded Live at the Grand Ole Opry album in 1971.
Stonewall joined the Grand Ole Opry on Nov. 3, 1956, longer ago than any other current Opry member. He was on Billboard's county singles chart more than 40 times.
The late Porter Wagoner used to introduce Stonewall on his show by saying he came to the Opry “with a heart full of love and a sack full of songs.”
Stonewall lived in Brentwood, TN, with his wife, Juanita, who ran his publishing company Turp Tunes. Juanita died in 2019 from Alzheimer’s Disease.
His son, Stonewall Jackson Jr., remains in the Nashville area and served as primary caretaker for both of them through their illnesses.
Stonewall Jackson died at 5:35 a.m. on Saturday...he was 89 years old.
Tonight's performance of the Opry will be dedicated in Stonewall's honor. Announcements on further arrangements are pending.
JACKSON, Stonewall
Born: 11/6/1932, Tabor City, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Died: 12/4/2021, Brentwood, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Stonewall Jackson’s westerns – actor:
Joshua – 1975 (Pete)
High Noon Part II: The Return of Wil Kane (TV) – 1980 (telegrapher)
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