Joe Ely, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who helped spearhead Texas’ progressive nation motion within the Seventies, has died, his consultant confirmed to Rolling Stone. Ely died from problems of Lewy Physique Dementia, Parkinson’s, and pneumonia at his dwelling in Taos, New Mexico. He was 78.
As is true of probably the most revered nation icons, Ely lived an extended and storied life that was ripe with materials for songs. Though his music profession technically started with the Flatlanders, the nation band he shaped with fellow Texans Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock in 1972, Ely actually discovered his viewers together with his self-titled solo debut in 1977; with every passing 12 months, Ely’s pure lyricism and ear for rock hooks helped push a brand new kind of progressive nation to the forefront of the Texas group. Within the many years that adopted, he went on to collaborate with the Conflict, Bruce Springsteen, Uncle Tupelo, the Chieftans, and plenty of others.
Born in Amarillo, Texas, on February 9, 1947, Ely and his household relocated to Lubbock the place he spent his teenage years attending highschool and enjoying guitar. In his 20s, Ely crossed paths with Gilmore and Hancock and so they determined to kind a band that will make the most of their pursuits in nation, people, and storytelling. The Flatlanders solely launched one album, 1973’s All American Music, earlier than disbanding that very same 12 months. Nevertheless, as soon as the three musicians discovered unbiased success as solo artists, they regrouped to report a handful of albums collectively and carry out stay as a band as soon as once more, ultimately incomes their place within the Austin Music Awards Corridor of Fame.
When he launched his solo profession, Ely settled into nation music from an openminded and openhearted place, churning out songs that welcomed everybody into the fold no matter how acquainted they had been with the style. That accessible strategy earned him a number of charting albums, with 1981’s Musta Notta Gotta Lotta hitting No. 135 on the Billboard 200 and No. 12 on the High Nation Albums chart. Afterward, 1998’s Twistin’ within the Wind reached No. 55, 2003’s Streets of Sin peaked at No. 51, and his 2011 report Happy at Final claimed spot No. 46 on the High Nation Albums chart. But for all of his beloved originals, one among Ely’s largest songs was a canopy of Robert Early Eager’s “The Highway Goes on Perpetually,” which he tacked onto his 1992 album Love and Hazard. His ultimate album, Love and Freedom, got here out in February 2025.
