Nashville music legend Cowboy Jack Clement, who worked with musicians from Johnny Cash to U2, has died at age 82. Later this year, he was set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
According to CMT, Clement died Thursday at his home in Nashville after a battle with a long illness.
Billboard reports that Clement was born in Memphis on April 5, 1931. While he showed an interest in the guitar and dobro when he was young, he didn’t begin a career in music until after a stint in the U.S. Marines in the early 1950s. He began studying business, but in 1956, he agreed to work under Sam Phillips at the legendary Sun Studios. There, he worked with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash and was instrumental in bringing Jerry Lee Lewis to Phillips’ attention.
In 1959, he began a brief stint with RCA Victor, before moving to Beaumont, Texas and establishing the Coast Recording Studio and a publishing company. He would convince George Jones to sing “She Thinks I Still Care” and produced Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
He wrote countless hits for country stars and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Fame in 1973. He worked with U2 on Rattle and Hum and continued recording until fairly recently. The 2005 documentary Cowboy Jack's Home Movies centers on his career.
Clement is survived by two children. He was set to attend his Country Music Hall of Fame induction in October.
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