Most music traffics in human emotion, but perhaps none do it quite the same way as country music. While some songs bring a single tear to the eye, others rip out the listener’s still-beating heart and calmly hand it back to them once the last line is sung. “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam, certainly falls into the latter category. The song tells the story of a love so powerful that death is quite literally the only thing that can break it. Recorded by country music phenom George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” reached number one on the country singles chart on this day (July 5) in 1980.
He Hated It
Arguably country music’s hottest commodity at one time, George Jones’ career was fading by the time the 1980s dawned.
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The singer had spiraled into a destructive pattern of drug use following his 1975 divorce from country star Tammy Wynette. He hadn’t seen the top of the charts in six years, and many critics were talking about his greatness in the past tense.
It was far from love at first listen when producer Billy Sherrill brought “He Stopped Loving Her Today” to Jones. It was too long, too sad, too depressing, and he hated the melody.
After about a year of haggling, the Texas native begrudgingly agreed to record the song. When Sherrill played him the finished product, Jones griped, “Well, I hope you’re right, but I’m saying here and now that nobody will buy that morbid son of a b—-.”
The Song That Revived George Jones’ Career
He was very, very wrong. Released as the lead single from the album I Am What I Am, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” shot to the top of the country singles chart and earned Song of the Year honors from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
CBS renewed George Jones’ recording contract. He won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. The album’s follow-up singles, “I’m Not Ready Yet” and “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)” each peaked in the top 10. And their cumulative success lifted I Am What I Am to number seven on the country albums chart, marking Jones’ first top 10 album in five years.
[RELATED: It Took George Jones More Than 80 Takes To Record His First No. 1 Hit]
Later, Jones marveled that “a four-decade career had been salvaged by a three-minute song.”
After the country music titan died on April 26, 2013, at age 81, country star Alan Jackson performed “He Stopped Loving Her Today” at Jones’ funeral six days later.
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