Country music singer Stonewall Jackson, a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry, has died at 89 following a battle with vascular dementia.
News of his death was confirmed by the Grand Ole Opry.
Born on Nov. 6, 1932, in Tabor City, North Carolina, Jackson was the third of three boys, according to The New York Times. His biological father died before his birth, and his mother later remarried a sharecropper named James Leviner, who was reportedly abusive towards him.
Jackson shared accounts of the abuse in the book "From the Bottom Up: The Stonewall Jackson Story as Told in His Own Words," which was released in 1991.
Jackson's mother eventually left Leviner and moved the family to Georgia. For a time, they lived in a shack and Jackson would work in the fields cutting timber, the Times noted.
Jackson’s claim to fame came in 1956, when he joined the Grand Ole Opry. He remains the only singer to have been invited to join the Opry cast without having released a record.
In a 2013 interview, Jackson recounted how he was offered a yearslong contract with the Opry during his first invite to play there.
"I'm not putting down the record end of the business because that's very important, too," Jackson told Music Charts Magazine, via People. "But to me, the way I came here and all, the Grand Ole Opry's been the mainstay in my career. I still love the Grand Ole Opry very, very much."
In 2007, Jackson’s relationship with the show grew strained after he sued the Opry's parent company, Gaylord Entertainment, for age discrimination, claiming that his appearances on the program were reduced significantly in order to feature younger artists in the show. The lawsuit was settled the following year for an undisclosed amount and Jackson continued performing on the show.
Jackson was also a successful solo music artist whose songs dominated the charts. He released a string of hits including "Waterloo," "Don't Be Angry," "I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water," and "B.J. the D.J.," among others.
Jackson's wife, Juanita Wair Jackson, died in 2019. He is survived by his son, Stonewall Jr., and two grandchildren.