On May 8, 2008, gentleman crooner and country hitmaker Eddy Arnold passed away from natural causes. According to The New York Times, his death at a care facility near Nashville, Tennessee, was confirmed by the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. He was 89 years old, a week shy of his 90th birthday. In March, the singer sustained a hip injury after falling outside his home following the passing of Sally, his wife of 66 years.
Arnold had an undeniably successful career. From 1945 to 1954, fifty-seven consecutive Eddy Arnold songs were top 10 hits, including “I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms),” which was a chart-topping track for five months in 1947, and “Bouquet of Roses,” which spent 19 weeks at number one the following year. In addition to that, 37 of his hits crossed over to the pop charts, with the biggest one being “Make the World Go Away.” The song managed to reach the Top 10 among records by the Beatles, the Supremes, and the Rolling Stones.
In 1966, Arnold was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, making him the youngest inductee, along with Cash, who was elected in 1980 to receive the honor. A year later, he won the CMA’s highly coveted Entertainer of the Year Award.
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Then, in 1984, he was recognized by the ACM for his pioneer work in the genre. In his seven-decade career run, he became known for pioneering the “Nashville sound,” characterized by swelling orchestral backgrounds and female choir voices. He helped change the image of the genre from ‘hillbilly’ to ‘country.’ As Robert Hilburn, the Los Angeles Times’ former pop music critic, noted, “He ranks with Johnny Cash as one of the great ambassadors of country music.”
The singer announced his retirement in 1999 during a concert at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas. However, he continued to record and even released his 100th album, After All These Years, in 2005 under RCA.
Then director of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Kyle Young said, “He certainly set the bar.”
Let’s always honor Eddy Arnold’s death by continuing to strengthen his musical legacy for generations to come.
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