Why George Jones Was Famously Known as “No Show Jones”

In the history of country music, few people have more of a grandiose rock ‘n’ roll reputation than George Jones. Frankly, George Jones makes some of the hardest and most rambunctious rock stars look like school children. While it’s a commonality to place such behavior in a spotlight, the behaviors in question did derive from a substance abuse issue Jones suffered from for a large portion of his life. Due to his substance abuse, Jones acquired a lot of stories, good and bad, and also acquired the nickname “No Show Jones.”

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George Jones’ struggle with substance abuse is no secret. He, as well as his peers, were very open about it, and fortunately, in 1999, at the age of 67, Jones got sober. However, before that, Jones garnered a reputation synonymous with his substance abuse. And other than just a crazy son of a gun, Jones also frequently skipped his shows due to his high levels of intoxication, and this is exactly why he scored one of his many infamous nicknames.

George Jones’ Nickname Says It All

We are all familiar with nicknames and the casual creation of them. Typically, folks form them from an inside joke or an obvious factor. Well, in regards to George Jones’ nickname “No Show Jones,” his peers crafted it out of a rather obvious fact. That fact was that he simply didn’t show up to performances.

Recalling how the name came about, Jones’ producer, Billy Sherrill, told The New York Times, “A lot of the missed shows did start when he was all messed up. You can’t push a rope.” “Jones has always been laid-back, just never did care. He told me one time — everyone was all mad at him because he’d missed a big gig somewhere — he said, ‘Look, as long as I can go into a Holiday Inn lounge with a guitar and make a living, nobody’s going to push me around.’ So he’s got this thing,” added Sherrill.

Jones, being a self-aware individual, was completely cognizant of the facts that led to his infamous nickname. In that interview with the NYT, he divulged, “Of course, I was pretty wild. I was pretty wicked. That old stuff will make you do things that you later on wish had never happened. But there’s not much you can do about it because it’s spilled milk. You just have to clean up your act, and that’s what I did. I wouldn’t have it any other way now.”

As stated previously, Jones admirably cleaned up his act later in life. Though, as he said, a lot of his life actions were “spilled milk,” and while he cleaned it up, some of its remnants inevitably remained.

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