Southern Rock Icon Charlie Daniels Dies

Unfortunately, we have to report the passing of a legend today.

Southern rock pioneer Charlie Daniels passed away at a hospital in his beloved Tennessee this morning at the age of 83.  Doctors determined the cause of death was a hemorrhagic stroke.

Charlie Daniels, a notorious fiddle player, vocalist and guitarist grew to prominence back in the '70s, releasing well know rock songs like The Devil Went Down To Georgia, Long Haired Country Boy, Uneasy Rider, and The Legend Of Wooley Swamp.  He was also well-known for playing fiddle on the Marshall Tucker Band's live recording of 24 Hours At A Time, as well as that band's early album releases.  Charlie Daniels was a big man and owned any stage with his physical presence and commanding voice.

The Charlie Daniels Band has played many times here in Maine, including the Bangor Waterfront, the Blue Hill State Fair, the old Bangor Auditorium, and at the Balsam Valley Amphitheater in Columbia Falls back in 2015.

Charlie Daniels is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and one of the southern rock icons of the '70s that has heavily influenced the makers of today's country music. That decade was a heyday for southern rockers like the Allman Brothers Band, The Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, and 38 Special.

Charlie Daniels resided in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, where a park there is named after him.