Razzy Bailey, the songwriter behind country hits “Midnight Hauler” and “Loving Up a Storm” died at his home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee on Aug. 4. He was 82. The cause of death was not revealed.
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“Razzy wanted all his fans around the world to know how much he loved each one of you,” read a statement from Bailey’s family on his Facebook page. “He always said he had the greatest fans in the world. Razzy was a tremendous driving force in the country music community of Nashville.”
An elder of the Nashville Cowboy Church and member of R.O.P.E., Bailey was always available to help mentor and develop the careers of younger songwriters coming into Nashville. “So many entertainers looked to Razzy as their mentor and for his guidance in the music industry,” read the statement. “Razzy was always the first to reach out and help a struggling newcomer to Nashville.”
Born Rasie Michael Bailey on Feb. 14, 1939, in Five Points, Alabama—and raised in LaFayette, Alabama—the son of Erastus Bailey and Adella Singleton Bailey, he first started performing as a member of the Future Farmers of America string band at the age of 15 in high school and continued playing mostly honky-tonks following school.
In the 1960s, Bailey began submitting songs to Atlantic Records, including “9,999,999 Tears,” which he was asked to record. Failing to make the charts with his first single, Bailey continued playing with bands like The Aquarians and Daily Bread before going solo.
By the mid-1970s Bailey gained more recognition as a songwriter after Dickey Lee reached Top 2 success with his “9,999,999 Tears” and “Peanut Butter,” which pushed him into the ranks of RCA. Throughout the 1980s, Bailey released a string of No. 1 hits, including “Midnight Hauler, “Friends,” “Loving Up a Storm,” “I Keep Coming Back,” and “She Left Love All Over Me.” In 1991, Bailey released his final single “Fragile (Handle with Care)” and his last album Damned Good Time in 2009.
Bailey was involved in a car crash in December 2020, which left his back broken in two different areas and landed him in the trauma and critical care units at a Nashville hospital.
Bailey is survived by his loving wife Faye Bright Bailey, daughters Tammy (Kip) Paxton, Jenita (Garry) Hefler, Jenevra Mayberry, Teressa (Eddie) Bennett, and Paula Butler Baxter, sons Rasie M. Bailey, Jr. and Douglas Alan (Tammy) Watson, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and sister Vanda Bailey McIntire.
