On this day in 2017, country music lost its “Gentle Giant,” Don Williams.
The soft-spoken Texan whose smooth baritone, conversational phrasing, and understated stage presence carried him to the Country Music Hall of Fame died Sept. 8, 2017, after a short illness. He was 78.
His publicist confirmed emphysema, a chronic lung disease, caused the short illness and that Williams was at home in Mobile, Alabama, when he died.
“I cannot put into words the depth of sadness I feel right now at hearing of Don’s passing,” Keith Urban said.
Don Williams was more than six feet tall and known for his humility, which is how he earned his nickname the “Gentle Giant” of country music.
Throughout his career, Williams accumulated 17 No. 1 hits, including “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” “Tulsa Time,” “I Believe in You,” “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good,” and “It Must Be Love.” If that wasn’t enough accolades for one’s life, Williams also starred in the movie W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings alongside Burt Reynolds.
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Don Williams Suffered From Emphysema
“Don Williams offered calm, beauty, and a sense of wistful peace that is in short supply these days,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame, said when Williams was inducted. “His music will forever be a balm in troublesome times. Everyone who makes country music with grace, intelligence, and ageless intent will do so while standing on the shoulders of this gentle giant.”
Born May 27, 1939, in Floydada, Texas, Williams started playing guitar as a child. He first found success in the 1960s folk-pop trio Pozo-Seco Singers. By the early ’70s, he had gone solo in Nashville, where he began writing for Cowboy Jack Clement’s publishing company.
Songwriter Bob McDill recalled that era vividly.
“Don and I were both working at Jack Music before our careers took off,” McDill once said. “One night, when the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was in town, Don said, ‘Let’s go backstage and play them some songs.’ Neither of us knew it at the time, but I was standing next to the fella I’d have the biggest relationship with.”
Don Williams would go on to take eight McDill songs to No. 1.
The singer nabbed his first solo hit, “The Shelter of Your Eyes,” in 1972. Two years later, he had his first No. 1 hit with “I Wouldn’t Want to Live if You Didn’t Love Me.” In 1978, CMA named him Male Vocalist of the Year, and he won ACM Single of the Year with “Tulsa Time.”
Urban noted: “Don also had that attitude, too, like, the song is the picture, and the record is the frame. You’ve got to find the right frame, not too much and not too little, to make the picture really work.”
Williams Grew Country Music Internationally
Though his career began in Texas and Nashville, Williams’ music was universal. He carried country to audiences from Ireland to Africa. He filled London’s Royal Albert Hall and filmed his special “Don Williams: Into Africa” in Zimbabwe in the late 1990s.
When he retired, Williams still couldn’t let go. He launched a farewell tour in 2006 but returned with longtime producer Garth Fundis to cut two more albums, “And So It Goes” (2012) and “Reflections” (2014). A live album recorded in Ireland followed in 2016, the same year Williams officially announced his retirement.
“It’s time to hang my hat up and enjoy some quiet time at home,” he said. “I am so thankful for my fans, my friends and my family for their everlasting love and support.”
In 2010, the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted him as a member. Williams was too sick to attend his medallion ceremony, but Alison Krauss, Chris Young, and the Del McCoury Band honored him in his absence.
Earlier in 2017, some of the genre’s biggest names—including Garth Brooks, Krauss, and Chris Stapleton—came together to honor him on Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams.
Seven years later, the voice that once wrapped fans in quiet reassurance still carries. On this day, the “Gentle Giant” is remembered not only for the music he left behind but for the steady grace with which he lived it.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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