Country Music is loaded with legendary monikers. ‘The Drifting Cowboy‘. ‘The Storyteller‘. ‘Whisperin’ Bill‘. ‘The Red Headed Stranger‘.

And then there’s ‘The Southern Gentleman’.

Sonny James wasn’t always Sonny James of course. Nope. he was James Loden from Hackleburg, Alabama. He got an early start in his chosen career, singing and playing a mandolin by the age of 3!

It was 1956 when Sonny released ‘Young Love’ and that song has lived forever. But wait, that was only the start, the start of what would become an amazing music career.

Beginning in 1967 with ‘Need You’ and running right through 1971 and ‘Here Comes Honey Again’, Sonny James had 16 straight #1 country hits.

No, that’s not a misprint. 16 consecutive #1 country hits. You know what you call that? You call that…’WOW’!

And just as an ‘aside’…did you know Sonny James produced Marie Osmond’s first three albums? Yep, he did.

In 1971 Sonny received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1987 Sonny was voted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. And in 2006 Sonny was inducted into the prestigious Country Music Hall of Fame.

Sonny retired back in 1983.

Sonny passed away Monday February 22, 2016 at the age of 87. His website has an official statement.


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