Celebrating Waylon Jennings Birthday With His Best Songs

Waylon Jennings would have been 83 years old today. We lost him back in 2002 at the age of 64 from complications of diabetes. He was one of the original outlaws of country and is in the running for the most influential country musician in history. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Jennings got his start in Rock and Roll, helping out on the bass for Buddy Holly and the Crickets.

Here are some of the songs that, for me, show why Waylon Jennings is one of the best to ever do it.

Buddy Holly put him on the map: Buddy Holly discovered Waylon on Texas radio and recruited him to play bass on tour with him. In fact, according to legend, Waylon Jennings and bandmate, Tommy Allsup were supposed to be on that fateful flight from Clear Lake, Iowa. Up and coming rock star, Ritchie Valens (La Bamba) convinced Tommy Allsup to give up his seat, and The Big Bopper (Chantilly Lace) flipped a coin with Waylon to decide who would fly in the plane to the next tour stop, and who would ride in the cold bus. Waylon lost the coin toss, and sadly the plane crashed shortly after take-off, changing the histories of both rock and country music forever.

Respected by Everyone: Wherever Hoss played and whomever he played with, they formed a bond. To see that bond up close, check out the video above, with a young Waylon giving his friend, Johnny Cash a hard time.

Waylon and Willie: A big part of Waylon's career was how well he sang with other country music stars. There's no better example of that than the classics he made with his fellow outlaw, Willie Nelson. They recorded dozens of iconic tunes together, this one is my favorite.