It is a sad time for the Grand Ole Opry and country music.
Popular veteran Grand Ole Opry member George Hamilton IV passed away in Nashville over the weekend after suffering a heart attack. He was 77.
Hamilton suffered a serious heart attack Saturday night. He was taken to Nashville's Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital, where he had been listed in critical condition.
The North Carolina native became a member of the Opry in 1960.
Hamilton burst onto the national music scene in 1956 with the million-selling "A Rose and a Baby Ruth," a John Loudermilk-penned song that rose to No. 6 on the all-genre Billboard Top 100 chart. He scored two more Top 40 hits before becoming what "Definitive Country" encyclopedia contributor Lesley-Anne Peake called "the first pop artist to switch to country."
Often called the "International Ambassador of Country Music," his biggest hit came in 1963 when he recorded the song "Abilene." The song was produced by the late Chet Atkins and reached number one on the U.S. Country Music chart, where it stayed for four weeks.
Up until the time of his illness, Hamilton still regularly performed along with his son, George Hamilton V.
There was no immediate information on funeral arrangements.
