{"id":52865,"date":"2020-07-06T12:21:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T18:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/country-rocker-part-time-durango-area-resident-charlie-daniels-dies-at-83\/"},"modified":"2020-07-06T18:21:57","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T18:21:57","slug":"country-rocker-part-time-durango-area-resident-charlie-daniels-dies-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/country-rocker-part-time-durango-area-resident-charlie-daniels-dies-at-83\/","title":{"rendered":"Country rocker, part-time Durango-area resident Charlie Daniels dies at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Charlie
Charlie Daniels appears at the Charlie Daniels 80th Birthday Volunteer Jam in Nashville, Tenn. Daniels who had a hit with \u201cDevil Went Down to Georgia\u201d has died at age 83. A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer died Monday from a hemorrhagic stroke.<\/span>Amy Harris\/Invision\/Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2013 Country music singer and part-time La Plata County resident Charlie Daniels, who had a hit with \u201cDevil Went Down to Georgia,\u201d has died at age 83.<\/p>\n

A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer died Monday at a hospital in Hermitage, Tennessee, after doctors said he had a stroke.<\/p>\n

He had suffered what was described as a mild stroke in January 2010 and had a heart pacemaker implanted in 2013 but continued to perform.<\/p>\n

Daniels owned a home in La Plata Canyon, where he typically spent a couple of months each year after Christmas. He enjoyed socializing, snowmobiling and playing an occasional gig in the Durango area.<\/p>\n

\"Charlie
Charlie Daniels performs during a memorial service for country music singer Troy Gentry at the Grand Ole Opry House on Sept. 14, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. Daniels who had a hit with &#x201c;Devil Went Down to Georgia&#x201d; has died at age 83. A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer died Monday from a hemorrhagic stroke.<\/span>Mark Humphrey\/Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cHe loved being in Durango,\u201d said Jim Foster, a local friend. \u201cHe just was one of the most generous people you could imagine, both with his time and giving gifts to people that he liked. He was always a lot of laughs when we could get together. He\u2019ll be sorely missed by me and by many others in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an author, Daniels was never shy about expressing his political and cultural viewpoints. Just last weekend, Daniels had a letter to the editor<\/a> published in The Durango Herald<\/em> throwing his support behind the Clark family, who own Toh-Atin Gallery and the controversial \u201cChief\u201d mascot in front of the business in downtown Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing disrespectful about the signage; in fact, nobody on planet Earth has more respect for or has been a better friend to Native Americans than the Clark family, who have dealt honestly with them for three generations, a testimony in itself to the relationship,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe sign is a landmark, not an insult and offends no one. Long may it stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels, a singer, guitarist and fiddler, started out as a session musician, even playing on Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cNashville Skyline\u201d sessions. Beginning in the early 1970s, his five-piece band toured endlessly, sometimes doing 250 shows a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can ask people where they are from, and if they say \u2018Waukegan,\u2019 I can say I\u2019ve played there. If they say \u2018Baton Rouge,\u2019 I can say I\u2019ve played there. There\u2019s not a city we haven\u2019t played in,\u201d Daniels said in 1998.<\/p>\n

Daniels performed at the White House, at the Super Bowl, throughout Europe and often for troops in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

He played himself in the 1980 John Travolta movie \u201cUrban Cowboy\u201d and was closely identified with the rise of country music generated by that film. He also made guest appearances with the Bar D Wranglers, who perform regularly at the Bar D Chuckwagon north of Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve kept people employed for over 20 years and never missed a payroll,\u201d Daniels said in 1998. That same year, he received the Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music.<\/p>\n

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