SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Charlie Robison, the Texas singer-songwriter whose rootsy anthems topped the country charts until complications from a medical procedure rendered him unable to sing, died on Sunday. He was 59.
According to a family representative, Robison died at a hospital in San Antonio after suffering cardiac arrest and other issues.
Robison began his musical career in the late 1980s, performing in Austin bands such as Two Hoots and a Holler before founding his own Millionaire Playboys. His solo debut, “Bandera,” was released in 1996, named for the Texas Hill Country hamlet where his family has held a ranch for generations.
When approached by Sony in 1998, Robison joined the label’s Lucky Dog imprint, which specialized in rawer country. “I Want You Bad,” from his 2001 album “Step Right Up,” was his sole Top 40 country hit.
Charlie claimed in 2018 that he had permanently lost his ability to sing due to throat surgery. “As a result, I am officially retiring from the stage and studio with a heavy heart,” he posted on Facebook.
For one year, Robison was a judge on USA Network’s “Nashville Star,” a reality television show where participants lived together while fighting for a country music recording contract.
Charlie Robison, the Texas singer-songwriter, died on Sunday. He was 59.
His wife, Kristen Robison, and four children and stepchildren survive him. Three of his children were born to his first wife, Emily Strayer, a founding member of the supergroup The Chicks. In 2008, they divorced.
Charlie’s divorce from Strayer inspired several songs on his 2009 album “Beautiful Day.” He said he made it while living across from the Greyhound bus terminal in San Antonio, in a loft apartment with mismatched furniture and beer bottles were strewn around, ‘the typical bachelor pad’.
“People come up to me and say they’re going through something right now, and it’s almost like this is completely written about them,” Robison told The Associated Press in 2009. “I didn’t intend to do that, but it’s a side effect of the record.”
Robison’s final album, the rock-tinged “High Life” from 2013, featured a cover of Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece.”
There will be a memorial service.
SOURCE – (AP)
