Billy Sherrill didn’t just mold the sound of country music—he softened its edges, added strings, and shapeshifted the genre into something lush and cinematic without sacrificing its innate identity.
The legendary producer and songwriter, whose countrypolitan style defined an era and helped launch icons including Tammy Wynette, George Jones, and Charlie Rich, died one decade ago today.
He was 78 years old and passed after a brief illness.
“Billy Sherrill’s productions had a voice of their own that were as distinctive as the singers he worked with,” producer Buddy Cannon told The Tennessean. “There’s never been another producer in country music whose records have such an identity. … I was in awe every time I was in his presence. I’ll treasure every minute I ever got to be with him.”
Sherrill wasn’t the first producer to introduce strings to country music, as Decca’s Owen Bradley had already trodden that space. However, Sherrill pushed far past basic introductions, adding layered productions occasionally reminiscent of rock producer Phil Spector, known for creating the wall of sound. Not everyone embraced Sherrill’s progressiveness, but fans showed their support by buying his records.
“His productions were always first class,” famed producer Jerry Kennedy told the Country Music Hall of Fame. “And as the charts indicated, he had a pretty good idea about what record buyers wanted.”
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“His Productions Were Always First Class”
Sherrill was a visionary behind the mixing board and at the piano, co-writing enduring classics like “Stand by Your Man” and guiding some of country’s most distinct voices into crossover superstardom.
“Billy Sherrill is a genius,” George Jones told The Tennessean in 2008. “He knew how to put these things together. He was behind so much of my success.”
Sherrill helped Wynette develop her emotional delivery style, then intensified it further with dramatic studio arrangements. He worked on Wynette’s songs including the Grammy-winning “I Don’t Wanna Play House” and “Stand By Your Man,” along with “Take Me to Your World,” “Singing My Song,” “I’ll See Him Through,” “Another Lonely Song,” and “‘Til I Can Make It on My Own.” Through his work as a songwriter and a producer, Sherrill grew Wynette into the Queen of Heartbreak and then the picture of perseverance.
In time, he started working with Jones, too, Wynette’s third husband. Sherrill produced the couple’s duets, including “We’re Gonna Hold On,” “Golden Ring,” and “Two Story House.”
Jones was already a star in 1972 when Sherrill and the Possum started working on Jones’ solo songs.
Billy Sherrill Elevated Tammy Wynette, George Jones
However, the men made some of Jones’ most memorable hits together, including: “We Can Make It,” “A Picture of Me (Without You),” “The Grand Tour,” and “The Door.”
They also recorded “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” but it was a fight. Jones didn’t want to. He told Sherrill: “Nobody’s going to buy that morbid (thing).” After the song’s success, Jones called Sherrill a “genius,” and the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
In addition to his work with Wynette and Jones, Sherrill pushed Charlie Rich from a foundering jazz and pop career into country pop crossover stardom with the double Grammy-winning “Behind Closed Doors,” “The Most Beautiful Girl,” and the Grammy-winning “A Very Special Love Song.”
From there, Sherrill became Vice President–Executive Producer for Columbia-Epic’s Nashville office in 1980. He kept the job for five years before leaving to become an independent producer.
Throughout his career, Sherrill also wrote and produced songs for artists including Johnny Cash, Janie Fricke, Marty Robbins, Joe Stampley, David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck, Tanya Tucker, Ray Charles, and Elvis Costello.
Sherrill retired by the early ’90s and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010. He died five years later on August 4, 2015.
(Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
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