Celebrate the Heart of Country, Americana, and Roots Music!

Remembering The Death of Don Williams, The Gentle Giant We Have All Loved

Don Williams Death
Arden Lambert
by

Arden Lambert covers breaking country music news for Country Thang Daily. If it just happened in country music, Arden is on it.

Get Country Thang Daily first on GoogleGet CTD first on GoogleAdd us as a preferred source in Top StoriesAdd us as a preferred sourceAdd

On September 8, 2017, Don Williams died at his home in Mobile, Alabama. His publicist confirmed that the award-winning country singer passed away after a brief struggle with emphysema, a chronic lung condition that involves damage to the walls of the lungs’ tiny air sacs. Williams was 78.

A year before his death, Williams was forced to cancel his North American tour – where he was slated to visit 21 cities across America – due to an unexpected hip replacement surgery. Soon enough, the country music and prolific hitmaker announced his decision to retire from country music.

“It’s time to hang my hat up and enjoy some quiet time at home,” Williams said, adding that he’s beyond grateful to his supportive fans. 

A Famous Country Star Who Carried The Genre’s Torch Around The World

With his rich voice, laid-back demeanor, and storytelling style, Don Williams gained musical attention in the late 1960s – as well as earned his nickname, The Gentle Giant. 

His career that spanned to six decades long was an illustrious one, amassing seventeen No. 1 country hits. Don Williams songs such as “Some Broken Hearts Never Mend,” “I Believe in You,” “You’re My Best Friend,” and “Good Ole Boys Like Me” made him an internationally celebrated country star. He toured sparingly overseas, more particularly in Europe and Africa. 

In 2010, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. “His music will forever be a balm in troublesome times,” Kyle Young, CEO of Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Truly, Don Williams is one of the greatest to have ever graced country music.

Remembering The Death of Don Williams, The Gentle Giant We Have All Loved

Know someone who loves Don Williams?

Pass this story along to your friends and family on Facebook.

Share on Facebook

Latest Stories

John Anderson, ‘Seminole Wind’ Singer and Country Music Hall of Fame Member, Dies at 71

Country Music Hall of Fame member John Anderson died Wednesday at 71. Back in the summer of 1972, the young man from Apopka, Florida, moved to Nashville, where his older ...

Who Was the Real Jolene? Dolly Parton Revealed the Woman With a ‘Terrible Crush’ on Carl Dean and Got Her ‘Revenge’

In the early years of their marriage, Carl Dean spent a lot of time at the bank. He was trying to get a loan for his asphalt paving business, and ...

George Jones Called ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today’ Morbid, Reportedly Bet It Would Miss No. 1

George Jones heard the song Billy Sherrill was so sure about and wanted nothing to do with it. In his autobiography, I Lived To Tell It All, he remembered exactly ...

Ella Langley Toasts ‘365 Days of Madness’ for ‘Choosin’ Texas,’ the 45-Minute Song That Outran Mariah Carey

It took Ella Langley and three co-writers 45 minutes to write “Choosin’ Texas.” A year after the song came out, she is still trying to measure what those 45 minutes ...

Luke Bryan’s Son Bo Breaks His Collarbone in the Senior Season He Waited Three Years for, Then Makes Fans a Promise

Bo Bryan spent three years waiting for his Friday nights. The son of Luke Bryan sat behind a Mr. Football winner at Battle Ground Academy, and when the quarterback job ...

The 10 Best Riley Green Songs Ranked, From His First Single to the Duets He Never Planned

Riley Green played guitar as a boy in rural Alabama, but he never sang along until his grandaddy Buford started pushing him. “I never sang when I played guitar until ...

Is Dale Dickens Real? Cooper Alan Says His Hometown Never Had One, but Fans Keep Hearing ‘Goodbye Earl’

Cooper Alan helped write a song called “Dale Dickens (RIP),” and he has confirmed that Dale is a fictional character, Cowgirl Magazine reports. “He’s fictitious!” Alan said in a 2025 ...

Bull Rider Coy Thorson Cried ‘I Don’t Want to Do It’ as a Kid, but There Was No Backing Out

When Coy Thorson was a boy, there were times he cried and told his older brother, Colton, that he didn’t want to ride, and he still remembers how those moments ...

Tulsa King Season 4 Premiere Ends With a Plane Crash, and Neal McDonough’s ‘New Tulsa King’ Was on Board

Dwight Manfredi’s sister, Joanne, woke him at 4:30 in the morning to tell him the governor’s plane had crashed. Cal Thresher was on that overnight flight, and so was Margaret, ...

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw Were Married When They Won a Grammy Singing ‘Like We Never Loved at All’

Faith Hill was already married to Tim McGraw when she put a song on her own album about watching an ex move on as if the love had never happened, ...