The country music world has lost another legendary figure as musician and producer Jerry Kennedy has died.
He was 85.
The Country Music Hall of Fame shared a statement about his death from CEO Kyle Young on its website.
“Before an artist ever sang the first line of ‘Standy By Your Man,’ ‘Harper Valley P.T.A.,’ or ‘Oh, Pretty Woman,’ Jerry Kennedy’s masterful guitar playing had already marked the song,” the statement read. “As a first-class session musician, he created signature licks that were as recognizable as song titles, and as a producer and a record label executive, he built a sonic platform for giants to stand on.
“He carried a spiritual understanding of music’s power to reach beyond social and stylistic boundaries, and he spent his career making it better and bigger,” the statement continued. “Jerry Kennedy was soft-spoken and understated, but his permanent impact on American music was anything but quiet.”
Saving Country Music wrote that Kennedy “was considered one of the most important guitarists and instrumentalists in country music history.”
“As a recognized member of the ‘Nashville ‘A’ Team,’ he was an inaugural inductee into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007 with guys like Harold Bradley, Floyd Cramer, Pete Drake, and Charlie McCoy,” the story on the site read.
Saving Country Music also noted that the Musicians Hall of Fame named its performance space the “Jerry Kennedy Theater.”
You can read more about Kennedy in Saving Country Music’s story here.
Kennedy reportedly signed his first recording contract with RCA Records at the age of 11. He went on to a career that saw him play with the likes of Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Kris Kristofferson and Elvis Presley.
Kennedy played on those landmark recordings mentioned by the Country Music Hall of Fame, and Saving Country music noted that he also “signed and saw Tom T. Hall and Reba McEntire as stars.” The outlet also praised him for being a part of some of America’s most important musical moments.