Country superstar George Jones dead at 81  Posted: April 29,
2013  George Jones, 81, the enduring hitmaker who perfected a
heart-rending ballad-singing style that distilled the
quintessence of country music, died Friday.  Mr. Jones died at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, according to
publicist Kirt Webster. He was hospitalized with fever and
irregular blood pressure, forcing him to postpone two shows.
Mr. Jones, regarded as a country music icon of traditionalism
and integrity, scored more than 60 Top 10 country hits,
beginning with "Why Baby Why" in 1955. In the 1960s and '70s, he
continually topped the charts with solo recordings as well as
duets with Melba Montgomery and, later, his third wife, Tammy
Wynette.  In 1980, he recorded "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a
masterpiece of melodrama that in 1992 was voted the greatest
country song of all time.  If there were a country music Mount
Rushmore, Mr. Jones would be one of the faces chiseled there,
alongside the likes of Hank Williams, John