Shutterstock
Legendary country musician and Hall of Famer Charlie Daniels passed away on Monday. He was 83 years old. His death was confirmed Monday afternoon by his publicist. He is survived by his widow, Hazel, and son Charlie Daniels Jr. Reports hold that Daniels died from a hemorrhagic stroke Monday morning. It is unclear if atrial fibrillation played a role.
The storied musician is likely best-known for his hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” which tells a folksy story about the Devil dueling a country boy named Johnny for his soul. The nature of the duel, the Devil determines, is that the two will play fiddle. Should the Devil win, he’ll take Johnny’s soul. Should Johnny win, the Devil will give him a fiddle made of solid gold.
Charlie Daniels had a storied career in country music. The legendary musician didn’t just light up the charts with his own singles, though: he often accompanied Bob Dylan on albums. The storied “Nashville Skyline” sessions, which brought Dylan closer to the country music orbit, included Daniels’ contributions. Even more prolific than his studio time, however, was Daniels’ touring schedule.
The musician was known for playing an absolutely astonishing number of shows in a year. He often played as many as 250 shows per year, touring relentlessly to bring his music to his fans. And he certainly had his share of fans. During an interview in 1998, Daniels touched on his act’s touring habits.
“I can ask people where they are from, and if they say `Waukegan,’ I can say I’ve played there. If they say `Baton Rouge,’ I can say I’ve played there. There’s not a city we haven’t played in,” he told reporters with a sly grin.
Daniels was also known for his fiery, passionate personality. In several songs, he suggests that enemies of the United States should “go straight to hell”. In others, Daniels suggests killing drug dealers by using child abusers as bait. These controversial lyrics earned him a reputation as a firebrand, and helped propel him to fame.
In the aforementioned “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” Daniels ends the climactic battle by having Johnny call Satan “you son of a b****,” though he would later tone the lyric down. In the radio version of the song, Johnny calls Old Scratch “you son of a gun,” in order to reach a larger audience.
Across his long career, Daniels claimed he kept striving for perfection. In that same 1998 interview, he explained why he played so many live shows. “I have never played those notes perfectly. I’ve never sung every song perfectly. I’m in competition to be better tonight than I was last night and to be better tomorrow than tonight.”
