Jerry Jeff Walker, a Texas country singer and songwriter who wrote the pop song Mr Bojangles, has died aged 78.
Walker died on Friday of cancer, family spokesman John T Davis told The Associated Press.
“He had battled throat cancer for many years, and some other health issues,” Davis said Saturday.
Jerry Jeff Walker has left the building.
Damn.
RIP.— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 24, 2020
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Walker emerged from New York’s Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s and he was a founding member of the band Circus Maximus.
He moved to Texas in the 1970s and in 1972 scored a hit with his version of the Guy Clark song LA Freeway.
Walker and the Lost Gonzo Band in 1973 recorded an album live in Texas called Viva Terlingua that became a classic of the country-rock scene.
RIP Jerry Jeff Walker. Great Gonzos was one of the first cd’s that I bought. Growing up his music was a staple in the Manning household. — Eli Manning (@EliManning) October 24, 2020
Walker had since released more than 30 albums.
In 1986, he formed independent music label Tried & True Music and released albums under it.
Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017, undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, he told the Austin American Statesman in 2018.
“I guess I took my singing for granted, and now I don’t,” he told the newspaper.
In 2017, it was announced that Walker had donated more than 100 boxes of his music archives to The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, including tapes, photographs, hand-written lyrics and artefacts.
Walker’s survivors include his wife, Susan, son, Django, and daughter, Jessie Jane.
