Spending over 50 years in country music, George Jones produced countless hit songs like “Finally Friday”, “The One I Loved Back Then”, and “The Window Up Above.” Thanks to his unique voice, the singer also gained a great deal of praise as many considered him “the greatest living country singer.” Some even deemed him the Rolls-Royce of country music. Sadly, in April 2013 the icon passed away after dealing with alcoholism. And according to a new book, Jones’s addiction to hard drugs like coc**ne happened thanks to the doctor.
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Releasing Coc**ne and Rhinestones: A History of George Jones and Tammy Wynette on September 3, writer Tyler Mahan Coe took a deep dive into the life of the country singer and his marriage to Tammy Wynette. In the book, the author pointed to March 1977 when Jones struggled to get to the stage. Divorcing Wynette two years earlier, Jones received a little help with what he called an “energy shot.”
Discussing that night, Coe explained, “[The doctor] injected him with a shot of liquid coc***e. He showed up to this concert broke and very hung over. And the only reason he showed up was for [people] to see the state that he was in so that they would realize that he was in no condition to get on stage and perform.” He added, “There happened to be a doctor there who said he could get him in shape to perform. [He] shot him up with coc***e. And then the next thing Jones knew, he is out on stage feeling amazing, feeling incredible and singing great”
George Jones Struggled With Addiction And Health Problems
Eventually, Jones found himself exhausted once again and sent an individual to find out what the doctor put in that syringe. “They found out it was coc***e. So he just started getting coc***e. At first, he probably thought of it as a useful tool. But coc***e addiction doesn’t work that way. And everything got dark pretty fast.”
While his addiction to alcohol caused his health decline, Jones missed numerous performances as many called him “No Show Jones.” He would pass away due to hypoxic respiratory failure at the age of 81.
Photo of George Jones Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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