Country music singer and Country Music Hall of Fame member,
Sonny James
of natural causes at Nashville’s Alive Hospice. He was 87.
Sonny James
He will be best remembered for his 1957 hit song Young Love, which was considered to be the first teenage country crossover single. The song topped both the pop and country charts. James was also known as the Southern Gentleman for his polite personality.
After that hit song, James‘ career took a bit of a downturn until he joined up with a new backing band that he called The Southern Gentlemen in 1964. He then had his second No. 1 song with You’re the Only World I Know.
Beginning in 1967 with the song Need You and ending with Here Comes Honey Again in 1971, James recorded 16 straight No. 1 country singles. He had 26 No. 1 songs in his career; the last one came in 1974 with Is It Wrong (For Loving You). He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007 along with his backing band The Southern Gentlemen.
James helped launch the career of Marie Osmond and produced her first three albums including her hit song P
aper Roses.
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