Country music artist Tommy Overstreet, who had several hits in the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 78. The singer, who died Monday at his residence in Oregon, had been suffering from a number of illnesses over the past few years, according to Billboard.
"Tommy Overstreet has passed away at his home," fellow country musician Rex Allen Jr. wrote on Facebook. "Tommy was a great guy and headlined the first tour I ever worked. So sad."
The country hitmaker got his first major break when he started singing on Slim Willet's television show in Texas at the age of 17. He later went on to form a band called The Shadows in the 1950s. Overstreet was hired as the manager of Dot Records in Nashville in 1967, and he returned to the studio three years later to establish himself as a country star, according to The Hollywood Life.
His first chartbuster, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard country charts, was "Gwen (Congratulations)," and some of his other hits include "I Don't Know You Anymore," "Heaven Is My Woman's Love," and "That's When My Woman Begins," among many others. Overstreet also appeared as a regular guest on shows like "Hee Haw" and "The Midnight Special."
Later in life, Overstreet stepped away from the spotlight and his music career, releasing his last album in 1983 and his last single three years later. The country artists published a children's book "The Graham Cracker Kid and the Calico Girl," as well as an autobiography titled "A Road Less Traveled," according to The Minneapolis Star Tribune.
