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Opry star Hank Locklin dies at 91

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 10, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Country singer Hank Locklin, whose smooth tenor voice on hits such as "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" and "Please Help Me I'm Falling" marked a career that spanned 50 years, has died. He was 91.

Locklin died Sunday at his home in Brewton, Ala., Opry publicist Jessie Schmidt said. She said that the cause of death was not being released.

Locklin helped usher in "the Nashville Sound" that gave country music a more lush feel. He performed on the Grand Ole Opry for 47 years.

"I've been blessed to have hit songs that are timeless and appeal to the generations," he said in 2001.

He recently released his 65th album, By the Grace of God.

His "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" was a hit in 1958 and "Please Help Me I'm Falling" in 1960.

"Send Me the Pillow You Dream On," which Locklin wrote, was also recorded later by Johnny Tillotson and Dean Martin.

Locklin joined the Grand Ole Opry cast in 1960 and last performed there Sept. 8, 2007, Schmidt said. He spent 19 years recording for RCA Records.

Locklin's other hits included "Let Me Be the One," "Geisha Girl," "Why, Baby, Why" and "It's a Little More Like Heaven."

In 2001, he released his first album in 20 years, Generations in Song. Vince Gill and Dolly Parton joined him on the album.

Locklin, as much as anyone else, popularized country music in Ireland, where he often toured. In the mid-1960s he recorded the album Irish Songs Country Style because of his popularity in Ireland.

"The Lord gave me a good voice, and I can still sing," he said in 2001.

Locklin was born in McLellan, Fla., where he picked cotton as a youth.

He learned to play guitar at 9 when bedridden after being hit by a school bus.

He once said he was paid $2 for one of his first paid performances at a Florida roadhouse. Trouble was, his expenses were $5.

Locklin became a regular performer on radio station WCOA in Pensacola, Fla., and on the Big D Jamboree on KRLD in Dallas. In 1949 he joined The Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, La.

In the 1970s he was the host of TV shows in Houston and Dallas.