Country Music Hall of Famer was 85

Singer/songwriter Tom T Hall has died at the age of 85. His son, Dean Hall, has confirmed his father’s death at his Franklin, TN home. No cause has been revealed as of press time.

A 7x CMA Awards nominee, Hall was dubbed “The Storyteller” by Country Music Hall of Fame member Tex Ritter for writing songs distinguished by their narrative quality, their rich detail and their keen insight into the beauty of everyday life. His impressive songs earned Hall election to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

“Few could tell a story like Tom T. Hall. As a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist, he was one of those triple threat artists who continued to make an impact on the next generation. I’ll always remember growing up listening to Tom T.’s music with my father, who was a huge bluegrass and Country fan,” shares Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern.

“Tom T. Hall’s masterworks vary in plot, tone and tempo, but they are bound by his ceaseless and unyielding empathy for the triumphs and losses of others,” shares Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “He wrote without judgment or anger, offering a rhyming journalism of the heart that sets his compositions apart from any other writer. His songs meant the world to Bobby Bare, Johnny Cash, George Jones and other greats, and those songs will continue to speak to generations. He was a storyteller, a philosopher, a whiskey maker, a novelist, a poet, a painter, a benefactor, a letter writer, a gift giver, a gentleman farmer and many more things. My bet is that we won’t see the likes of him again, but if we do I’ll be first in line for tickets to the show.”

“In 1978 when we sang at Mama Maybelle Carter’s funeral a saddened Johnny Cash walked up to the podium and asked Tom T Hall to stand with him. Johnny said, ‘I draw strength from you Tom!’ Thank you Tom T Hall for the song’s and the strength you provided to so many,” The Oak Ridge Boys write.

“RIP Tom T Hall. Thank you for the songs, your class and your hospitality. One of the greatest traditions in Nashville was Mr. Hall and Miss Dixie’s open house during Christmas. Open to anyone. It was magic,” states SirusXM host Storme Warren.

“I was saddened to hear of Tom T. Hall’s passing. I loved him. He was a great Kentuckian with a heart of gold. He was a kind and gentle man. Lots of people come to Nashville to write songs, but Tom T. came to tell stories. These stories are everyone’s story. They are America’s story. Now he can truly say, ‘me and Jesus have our own thing going,'” shares Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry and IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame member Ricky Skaggs.

“RIP to Tom T. Hall. One of the greatest story telling songwriters ever! I used to pick and sing with him every year at Earl Scruggs’s home,” Travis Tritt shares.

Hall penned many hits, including Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA,” Jimmy C. Newman’s “D. J. for a Day,” and earning his first-ever No. 1 with Johnnie Wright’s “Hello Vietnam” in 1965.

Born May 25, 1936, in Olive Hill, Kentucky, Hall showed wrote his first song at age nine and then began playing in bands as a teenager. He wrote a jingle for a radio sponsor and became a DJ before joining the Army in 1957. He moved to Nashville in 1964, following a stint in the military.