Waylon Jennings

American country-western singer who became a definitive "outlaw" figure. Charismatic with a strong voice and personality, along with Willie Nelson he spearheaded country away from bland to exciting, gritty and more personal. After upsetting the Nashville regime, he directed his own band, "The Waylors." Innovative production and heavier instrumentation with a rock approach have resulted in years of hits and a long career for both him and his band.

Prior to his success, he worked with Buddy Holly as a bassist. In an ironic twist of fate, it was he who gave up his seat to the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) for the tragic plane crash on 3 February 1959 that killed Holly, Richardson and Ritchie Valens. Jennings first entered the music industry at the age of 12 when he got a job as a D.J. The son of a truck driver, he played guitar in his teens. The interest that he held at the time for pop music gradually shifted to country.

On drugs for 21 years, he had a $1,500 a day habit by the time he'd had enough. When he quit, he'd burned out on all burners and took three-four years to get to where he cared enough to sing again - or even could sing. He looks back as a man might who had walked away from a burning crash, in awe that he survived with the love of a good woman and a career that survived. Jessi Colter, his singing partner and wife from 1969, have a son, born in 1979.

On 12 December 1988 he had a triple by-pass heart operation. With diabetes, he had an infection on his left foot that led to amputation on 19 December 2001 in Phoenix, Arizona. He died in his sleep on 13 February 2002, a country singer with a rock'n'roll heart and the kind of self-depreciating humor to write such songs as "Too Dumb for New York City, Too Ugly for L.A."