NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin, a star of the Grand Ole Opry for more than a half century, died early Wednesday morning at his home in Wartrace, Tenn. He was 83 and suffered from pancreatic cancer.
From the late 1940s through the early '60s, Louvin and his brother Ira, performing as the Louvin Brothers, revived country music's emotional, full-throated harmony tradition. They notched 10 top-20 Billboard country hits with classics such as "When I Stop Dreaming," "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" and "My Baby's Gone," part of a body of work that would later inspire artists including Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton.
After the brothers disbanded, Charlie Louvin forged a solo career that included 16 Billboard Top 40 country hits in the '60s. And in the new century, he rose yet again, receiving two Grammy nominations, playing the Bonnaroo festival and collaborating with the rock-ready likes of Cake, Cheap Trick and Elvis Costello.
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Louvin kept singing, recording and touring. He was nominated for a traditional folk Grammy, and Tompkins Square released a succession of Louvin records, including a gospel set, an album of "murder ballads and disaster songs" and a live effort recorded at a Parsons-inspired music festival. The live album was released while Louvin was undergoing cancer treatment. November 2010 brought "The Battle Rages On," an album of songs about war.
In December, Louvin made his final onstage appearances, taping Marty Stuart's television show on Dec. 2 and working East Nashville's FooBar on Dec. 3. He collapsed during the Stuart taping, but righted himself and carried on.
"In my world, you are worthless if you can't continue," he said. "Show business is all I really know how to do. I would like for that to be the last thing I do."
