NEWS

We’ve lost another of Faron Young’s Country Deputies. Skip Jackson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, died June 26. Born Lloyd Aaron Jackson III, Skip played steel guitar with The Kendalls and then with Faron Young from 1970-75. He retired from the music business and became a photography professor at Nashville State Community College. Pam Jackson posted on Facebook, “Just before sunset last night, my husband, friend, partner and the love of my life of 45 years took his last breath and stepped into the arms of Jesus. His fight against cancer was valiant and painful but his passing was calm and peaceful, surrounded by the love of his family.” There will be a celebration of Skip’s life at the Hendersonville Funeral Home on July 23.

NEWS

The 32nd annual National Memorial Day Concert on PBS, which ran for 90 minutes and was cohosted by actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise, featured several country music performers. Mickey Guyton sang the National Anthem. Alan Jackson sang his “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Vince Gill, on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, sang his “Go Rest High on That Mountain.”

NEWS

B.J. Thomas, 78, died May 29 at his home in Arlington, Texas, two months after announcing he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Best known for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” he also had hits with songs such as “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” and “New Looks from an Old Lover.” Born Billy Joe Thomas in Hugo, Oklahoma, he grew up in Houston, where he played Little League baseball. He started calling himself B.J. because so many of his teammates were named Billy Joe.