Mel Tillis

At 85 years old, Mel Tillis physical status not available right now. We will update Mel Tillis's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Lonnie Melvin Tillis (September 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter.

Despite recording songs since the 1950s, his greatest success came in the 1970s, with a long list of Top ten hits. "I Ain't Never," "Good Woman Blues," and "Coca Cowboy" were Tillis' most popular hits.

President Barack Obama awarded Tillis the National Medal of Arts on February 13, 2012, for his contributions to country music.

He also received the Country Music Association's Most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year.

In addition, he was noted for his speech impediment, which did not have a lot to do with his singing voice.

Pam Tillis, a 1990s country hitman, is his daughter.

Early life

Mel Tillis was born in Tampa, Florida, United States. Burma (née Rogers; 1907–1990) and Lonnie Lee Tillis (1907–1981) were his parents. The family moved to Pahokee, Florida (near West Palm Beach), while he was still young. He had a stutter after a bout of malaria in his childhood. Tillis learned the drums as well as guitar as an infant. A local talent competition was held at age 16.

He attended the University of Florida but he dropped out and joined the United States Air Force. He formed The Westerners, a party that performed at local nightclubs while stationed as a baker on Okinawa.

Source

Career

Tillis returned to Florida after leaving the Air Force in 1955, where he began working with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in Tampa. He used his railroad ticket to travel to Nashville and then auditioned for Acuff-Rose Music's Wesley Rose. Tillis was encouraged by Rose to return to Florida and work on his songwriting skills. Tillis eventually moved to Tennessee and began writing full-time. A No. he cried, "I'm Tired." In 1957, the United States was hit by Webb Pierce. "Honky Tong Song" and "Tupelo County Jail" are two of Tillis' hits. Around this time, Ray Price, Kitty Wells, and Brenda Lee all charted hits with Tillis' music. He signed his own deal with Columbia Records in the late 1950s after being a hit-making songwriter. In 1958, he had his first Top 40 hit, "The Violet and a Rose," followed by "Sawmill," followed by the Top 25 hits "Sawmill."

Though Tillis charted his own hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, he had greater success as a singer, particularly for Webb Pierce. He wrote the hits "I Ain't Never" and "Crazy, Wild Desire" and "Tillis' own destiny hit). Bobby Bare, Tom Jones ("Detroit City"), Wanda Jackson ("Detroit City"), and Stonewall Jackson performed his hits. (This includes "The Brooklyn Bridge," "Loco Weed," and "Walk on, Boy," three of his Columbia albums.) Jack Greene had a No. 1 in 1967. "All the Time" was a hit for one of Tillis' songs. Tillis continued to record on his own, but he didn't have a huge success on the country charts at first.

Tillis converted to Kapp Records in the mid-1960s, and his first Top 15 hit with "Wine" was in 1965. "Stateside" and "Life Turned Her That Way," two other hits that were later released by Ricky Van Shelton in 1988, followed, including "Life Turned Her That Way." 1. "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" was a hit for Kenny Rogers and The First Edition as he wrote for Charley Pride ("The Snakes Crawl At Night) and wrote "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." Waylon Jennings was also known for the hit "Mental Revenge" for outlaw country country actor Waylon Jennings. The Hacienda Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Barbara Mandrell, and Jamey Johnson have all reported it. Tillis' first Top ten hit with "Who's Julie" was achieved in 1968. He appeared on The Porter Wagoner Show as a regular featured artist.

Tillis' 1969 was a turning point. With two top-ten country hits, "These Lonely Hands of Mine" and "She'll Be Hanging Around Somewhere," he finally achieved the success he always desired. He made it to the Top 5 in 1970 with "Heart Over Mind," which reached the top of the charts, peaking at No. 1. On the Hot Country Songs List, 3 of them are number three. Tillis' career as a country singer began right after this. "Heaven Everyday" (1970), "Commercial Affection" (1970), "Arms of a Fool" (1970), "Take My Hand" (a duet with Sherry Bryce in 1971), and "Brand New Mister Me" (1971). Tillis' version of his song "I Ain't Never" reached his first chart position in 1972. Despite the fact that Webb Pierce's version of the song was a hit, Tillis' version is the more popular version of the two. The bulk of the songs on MGM Records, Tillis' record company, were recorded in the early part of the decade.

Tillis had another hit after the success of "I Ain't Never"; this time, he was close to winning. 1 (reaching No. 1) "Neon Rose" is the third in a series of "Sawmill" (which at No. 3) by a teenager from a child's perspective, followed by "Sawmill" which reached No. 2. 2. In 1974, "Midnight, Me and the Blues" became another near-top chart hit. "Stomp the Grapes" (1974), "Memory Maker" (1974), "Memory Maker" (1975), "Woman in the Back of My Mind," (1975), and Tillis' interpretation of "Mental Revenge" (1976). Tillis made his MCA Records debut in 1976, which he had no association with when he first signed in 1976. A pair of two No. 2s got it off. In 1976, "Good Woman Blues" and "Heart Healer" were two hits, with "Good Woman Blues" and "Heart Healer." In an interview, he talked about writing five hits in a week. Tillis was named into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976 for his contribution to this success. In 1977, he appeared on the game show Match Game. He had another No. 1 finish. "I Believe In You" appeared in 1978 and then in 1979 with "Coca Cowboy," which was shot in the Clint Eastwood film Every Which Way But Loose, in which he also made a cameo appearance. Mel and Susan Together, a short-lived variety series on ABC television, was also co-hosted by Tillis in 1978. With model Susan Anton, you'll remember it. "Send Me Down to Tucson," "Ain't No California," and "I Got the Hoss" were among other hits around this time. Tillis was transferred to Elektra Records in mid-1979, which was another record company.

He continued to make hit songs like "Blind In Love" and "Lying Time Again," which were both released in 1979 after signing with Elektra. Tillis remained on top of his game as one of the country's most influential vocalists of the 1980s. The saying, "Your Body Is an Outlaw" was outlawed. In 1980, the three were the first to be beaten in "Steppin' Out" by a top ten hit. In 1981, "Southern Rains" was his last No. 1 in the United States. No. 1 was struck on this one. He released Mel and Nancy, an album of duets with Nancy Sinatra that resulted in two hit singles, "Texas Cowboy Night" and "Where Would I Be" in the same year. He remained with Elektra until 1982 before returning to MCA for a brief period in 1983. He had his last Top ten hits with "In The Middle Of The Night" in 1984, and had his last Top ten hit with "New Patches" in 1985. Tillis had, by this time, established a financial empire thanks to investment in music publishing companies such as Sawgrass and Cedarwood. He has appeared in films including Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1967), W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings (1980), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), and comedy westerns The Villain (1979), in which he appeared alongside fellow country singer Roy Clark, appeared in Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1976). He purchased radio station KIXZ (AM) in Amarillo, Texas, from Sammons-Ruff Associates, which went from Top 40 to country music and became a force in the Texas Panhandle area in 1979 (the station is now known as a News/Talk radio station). Tillis purchased Amarillo, Texas, Rock FM station KYTX, which changed the call to KMML, a play on Tillis' stutter, a short time later (this station is now known as KXSS-FM, a Top 40 radio station and is now a sister station to KIXZ). He later worked at WMML in Mobile, Alabama. After a brief period of stable returns, all of his stations were sold. He was briefly signed to RCA Records, Mercury Records, and later Curb Records in 1991. His chart success had faded by this time.

Tillis remained a songwriter in the 1980s, with writing hits for Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis following his 1970s debut. Stutterin' Boy was also a book that was written about him. Tillis appeared on television commercials for McDonald's, a fast-food restaurant chain that was branded "Whataburger." He continued to record and have occasional hits throughout the decade, with his last top ten hits coming in 1984 and 1988, and his last top-ten hits coming in the early 1990s; as with most country artists of the classic period, changes in the country music industry have hindered his career; as many other country artists of the 1990s. He also built a theater in Branson, Missouri, where he appeared on a regular basis until 2002. He formed the Old Dogs in 1998, alongside Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, and Jerry Reed. Shel Silverstein's group produced a double album of songs. Old Dogs Volumes 1 and 2 were released on the Atlantic Records label in July 1998. A companion video as well as a Best Hits album (made of previously released material by each individual artist) were also available.

Tillis was first inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on June 9, 2007. He was welcomed into the Opry by his daughter Pam. Pam became a well-known country music singer in her own right in the 1990s, with hits including "Maybe It Was Memphis," "Shake the Sugar Tree," and the Number One "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)). Tillis, along with Ralph Emery and Vince Gill, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on August 7th, 2015.

Tillis had six children, including singer-songwriter Pam Tillis. Pam performed for Arista Nashville in the 1990s, where she had hit singles including "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)" and "Maybe It Was Memphis." Mel "Sonny" Tillis Jr., his son, is also a songwriter. "When I Think About Angels," Jamie O'Neal's 2001 hit song "When I Think About Angels," co-wrote Sonny O'Neal.

Tillis suffered from many ailments from the start of January 2016. He died of respiratory failure in Ocala, Florida, at the age of 85 on November 19, 2017. Sonny Tillis began touring as a tribute act to his father after this.

Source