Country singer John Anderson dies at 71

John Anderson, the Country Music Hall of Fame singer behind hits including Swingin’, Seminole Wind and Straight Tequila Night, has died at 71, his family announced.

“To the world, he was a gifted country music singer whose voice and songs touched countless lives. To us, he was so much more,” his family said in a statement on social media, according to The Guardian. “He was the heart of our family, the one who made us laugh, loved us fiercely and made every ordinary moment feel special.”

His death was also reported by Rolling Stone, Billboard, USA Today and The Tennessean. The family statement, as quoted by The Guardian, did not give a cause of death.

Anderson’s career spanned nearly 50 years, and he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2024. He had five No. 1 hits on the U.S. country charts, The Guardian reported.

Born and raised in Florida, Anderson moved to Nashville after high school, playing gigs at night while doing manual labour by day. He once worked as a roofer on the Grand Ole Opry building, according to The Guardian.

He released his first single in 1975 and broke through two years later with I’ve Got a Feelin’ (Somebody’s Been Stealin’). His 1981 song I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday) became his first country Top 5 single and earned his only Grammy nomination. Wild and Blue, Black Sheep and Swingin’ all reached No. 1 on the country chart, and Swingin’ was his only hit on the U.S. pop chart.

After a lean stretch in the late 1980s, when he was dropped by Warner Bros., Anderson returned with the 1992 album Seminole Wind. Its title track, an ode to his home state, and Straight Tequila Night remain country radio staples. The follow-up album, Solid Ground, produced another chart-topper, Money in the Bank.

Anderson recorded 22 studio albums, the last of them 2020’s Years, made with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The album marked a comeback after a serious illness in 2017. “I had almost 100% hearing loss,” he told Billboard in 2020, according to The Guardian.

Fellow country stars paid tribute. “I am a very lucky man. I got the opportunity to find out that my hero wasn’t just the guy I hoped he’d be,” Blake Shelton wrote. Rolling Stone and The Tennessean reported that Tim McGraw and Riley Green were among other artists mourning him.

In Canada, “john anderson” was searched more than 5,000 times on Google over the past day.

For more music news, see our coverage of Simple Plan’s 2027 Canadian arena tour and the Juno Awards category overhaul.

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Sources: The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Tennessean, Billboard.