Jim Ed Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jim Ed Brown
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![]() Jim Ed Brown in 1993
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Background information | |
Birth name | James Edward Brown |
Also known as | Jim Ed Brown |
Born | Sparkman, Arkansas |
April 1, 1934
Died | June 11, 2015 Franklin, Tennessee |
(aged 81)
Genres | Country |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Guitar |
Years active | 1954–2015 |
Labels | RCA Victor |
Associated acts | The Browns Helen Cornelius Jerry Clower |
James Edward Brown (April 1, 1934 – June 11, 2015) was an American country singer-songwriter who achieved fame in the 1950s with his two sisters as a member of the Browns. He later had a successful solo career from 1965 to 1974, followed by a string of major duet hits with fellow country music vocalist Helen Cornelius, through 1981. Brown was also the host of the Country Music Greats Radio Show, a syndicated country music program from Nashville, Tennessee.
Biography
Brown on April 1, 1934 in Sparkman, Arkansas to Floyd and Birdie Brown. His parents owned a farm and his father also worked at a sawmill. As small children, Jim and his sisters, Maxine and Bonnie, moved with their parents to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. As young adults, the three siblings sang together and individually. This changed in 1954 when Jim Ed and Maxine signed a recording contract as a duo. They earned national recognition and a guest spot on Ernest Tubb's radio show for their humorous song "Looking Back To See", which hit the top ten and stayed on the charts through the summer of 1954.
Radio host
Brown hosted two nationally syndicated country music radio shows, the weekly two-hour Country Music Greats Radio Show and the weekday short-form vignette, Country Music Greats Radio Minute. Both were broadcast by over 300 radio stations to a weekly audience exceeding three million, as well as on the Internet. Recorded at the Hard Scuffle Studios in Nashville, the Country Music Greats Radio Show blended music from the 1940s through the 1990s with an interview archive of country stars past and present. Brown also told tales of living and working in the country music industry.
Illness and death
Brown announced in September 2014 that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and had temporarily retired from hosting his radio programs to undergo treatment. By early 2015 he was in remission and returned to hosting his radio programs. However, on June 3, 2015, he stated that the cancer had returned. Brown died a week later on June 11, 2015 at the age of 81.
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