Jones, George

Jones, George (Glenn)

(born Sept. 12, 1931, Saratoga, Texas, U.S.) U.S. country music singer and songwriter. He was born to an impoverished family, which moved to Beaumont, Texas, when he was 11 years old. He sang on the streets as a youngster, and he began recording in the early 1950s. His first hit, “Why, Baby, Why” (1955), was followed by “She Thinks I Still Care,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” and many others. In 1957 he joined the Grand Ole Opry. He continued to have hits into the 1980s, including many with his former wife Tammy Wynette. His rocky personal life and career only increased his fans' enduring affection.

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Jones, George (Glenn) (1931–  ) musician; born in Saratoga, Texas. One of the stars of country music, he was born into a poverty-stricken family and raised in Beaumont, Texas, where he began singing on the streets as a teenager. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he made his first record in 1953, appeared on the Louisiana Hayride in 1955, and scored his first hit, "Why Baby Why," in 1956, the first of over 60 singles that he placed on the Country Top-10 charts over the next four decades. He moved to Nashville in 1957 where he joined the Grand Ole Opry. His songs increasingly reflected the turbulence of his four marriages and his struggles with alcohol and drugs, and his skill at conveying heartbreak and headache established the standard against which modern country music is measured.