Tom T Hall passed away at the age of 85 on August 20, 2021.
Born in Olive Hill, Kentucky on May 25th 1936, Tom started his first band, The Kentucky Travelers, when he was just a teenager. While enlisted in the Army, Tom continued to make music with it being broadcasted over the Armed Forces Radio Network.
After his time in military Tom took a turn as a radio DJ in the early 1960s, but he continued to write music. He first track that got picked up, and recorded by Jimmy C. Newman, was a song called “DJ For A Day.” Tom soon moved to Nashville to take up writing fulltime where he penned music for Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings and others. It was around this time that he was crowned with the nickname “The Storyteller.”
In 1968 Jeannie C Riley took Tom’s “Harper Valley PTA” all the way to number-one – and the track inspired a movie and TV show that shared the same name, and starred Barbara Eden. He add his own stint on TV as host of Pop! Goes The Country – taking over the show from Ralph Emery from 1980 to 1982.
Tom continued to write music until 1986, and then retired from performing in 1994.
Tom T Hall was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1971. In the 2000 Tom became a member of several halls…2002, The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, 2008, The Country Music Hall of Fame, 2018, The International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, and 2019, The Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Photos Courtesy of the CMA
