This landed him in bankruptcy in 1990, when he listed debts of more than $1.6 million, most of it owed to the IRS. Photo Credit: Johnny Paycheck/ Official Facebook Page. When it came out, “Take This Job and Shove It” reached number one on both the US and Canadian chart. He gave Paycheck his signature song. All rights reserved. It’s been sixteen years since we lost, In 1960, Johnny Paycheck used the name Donny Young when writing songs and performing. This then marked Paycheck’s first and only number one song on the country chart. Before his death, he had been suffering from numerous illnesses such as emphysema and asthma. He died February 18 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center at the age of 64. He recorded for Decca and Mercury records as Donny Young until he renamed himself and built success first as a songwriter and then as a singer. Entertainment Television, LLC A Division of NBCUniversal. However, he didn’t immediately begin singing. I looked forward to mail call every day.” He also tried his hand at acting, appearing in such films as Heroes of the Heart, Sweet Country Road and JD and The Salt Flat Kid. He and another ex-convict, country star Merle Haggard, performed at the Chillicothe Correctional Institute in Ohio while PayCheck was imprisoned there. In 2002, a PayCheck compilation album, “The Soul & the Edge: The Best of Johnny PayCheck,” was released. He usually served as a harmony singer for artists such as Ray Price, Faron Young, and Roger Miller. The following year, he began releasing songs that entered the Billboard country chart. Birthday: May 31, 1938 Date of Death: February 18, 2003 Age at Death: 64 Richard Celeste commuted PayCheck's seven-to-nine-year sentence for aggravated assault, and the singer returned to his career. He will be greatly missedRIP Johnny, no more pain no more suffering..You are a Guardian Angel for your family... May you find peace knowing he died doing what he loved and that was Country Music. He began capitalizing the “c” in PayCheck in the mid-1990s. His greatest legal hits also include a long battle with the IRS over upaid taxes (which evenutally led him to declare bankruptcy and debts in excess of $1.5 million), a slander suit from a flight attendant (he paid a fine) and a no-contest plea to the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl (he denied the assault ever took place). Some of which almost, Paycheck recorded the song for his same-titled album, and also released it as a single. It’s been sixteen years since we lost Johnny Paycheck from respiratory failure. Today, we remember the death of one of country music’s greatest country outlaw artists. PayCheck's career was interrupted from 1989 to 1991 when he served two years in prison for shooting a man in the head in an Ohio bar in 1985. Thank you and you'll never, never be forgotten. He adopted the moniker Johnny Paycheck in the 1960s (he began capitalizing the "c" in the 1990s) to help boost his profile in Nashville when he decided to go from sideman to solo artist. He died Tuesday, Grand Ole Opry spokeswoman Jessie Schmidt said. He was court-martialed and imprisoned for two years in the 1950s for slugging a naval officer. PayCheck suffered from drug and alcohol addiction during his career, although he was said to have "put his life in order" after his prison stay. PayCheck was playing the guitar by age 6 and singing professionally by age 15. Johnny PayCheck Birthday and Date of Death. Johnny could sing a song just like you wanted here. This is a widget ready area. But he went AWOL and then wound up court-martialed and sentenced to two years in the brig for whacking an officer in the head, fraturing his skull. "The world will miss a great country singer," said Jones, "and I will miss my friend.". NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Country singer Johnny PayCheck, the hard-drinking hell-raiser best known for his 1977 working man's anthem “Take This Job and Shove It,” has died at 64. Born Donald Eugene Lytle on May 31, 1938, in Greenfield, Ohio, he took the name Johnny Paycheck in the mid-1960s about a decade after moving to Nashville to build a country music career. He was sued by the Internal Revenue Service in 1982 for $103,000 in back taxes. © 2020 E! Last year, Sony released the compilation album The Soul & the Edge: The Best of Johnny PayCheck. “They still remember me as that crazy, good-time-Charlie honky-tonker, and I don't tell 'em any different,” he said after his Opry induction. Paycheck recorded the song for his same-titled album, and also released it as a single. Situation comedies, situation life,” he said in 1997. PayCheck is survived by his second wife, Sharon Ray, and their son, Jonathan, as well as a granddaughter from his first marriage. The diminutive singer (he topped the tape at just 5-foot-5) made up for his short stature with plenty of attitude, both in his songs and his off-stage carousing. However, his musical talent was temporarily disrupted when he joined the army. He first started as a songwriter at the Tree Publishing house. After his prison release, he seemed to put his life in order. He gave anti-drug talks to young people and became a regular member of the Grand Ole Opry cast in 1997. He was fond of performing in talent shows, and when he was a teenager, he moved out of his house and started playing at clubs. The Ohio governor, however, commuted the sentence to two years and PayCheck returned to recording. At the time, he said he whiskey-swilling, cocaine-snorting days were long behind him, although he still played the part on stage. Copyright © 2003 The Associated Press. I have always loved his music. The following year, he began releasing songs that entered the Billboard country chart. Although he had been sober for years, decades of boozing and drugging had taken its toll on the honky-tonker. Some of the singles from the beginning of his career were, After years of writing and releasing songs, Paycheck continuously made singles that scored spots on the country chart. However, in 1977, Paycheck’s hard work finally paid off. “Take This Job and Shove It” is a song penned by another country singer, David Allan Coe. Remarkably, in between all his court time, PayCheck found time to record some 70 albums and land 33 singles on the country charts, including the Grammy-nominated "(Don't Take Her) She's All I Got," as well as "I'm the Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised)," "Slide Off Your Satin Sheets," "Old Violin" and "You Can Have Her.". We pray for him.love from larry-faye-sally franklintonnc27525 bc. Still, PayCheck said when people came to hear him play, they still expected to see the whiskey-drinking, cocaine-using, wild-eyed performer with unkempt hair and a surly frown – a reputation he built early in his career. The site is adjacent to Jones' own. Some of the singles from the beginning of his career were “A-11,” “Heartbreak Tennessee,” and “The Lovin’ Machine.”. Add some and they will appear here. After years of writing and releasing songs, Paycheck continuously made singles that scored spots on the country chart. And situations. Johnny PayCheck, the hard-living Nashville guitar slinger who urged the working class to "Take This Job and Shove It," has died. After a stint in the Navy in the mid-1950s, he moved to Nashville and found work as a bass player for Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, Faron Young and George Jones. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/johnny-paycheck-obituary?pid=806499 One of his early compositions was “Apartment 9,” recorded in 1966 by Tammy Wynette. Still, he'll be remembered for the "Take This Job and Shove It" phenomenon, which, to the bane of bosses nationwide, became a T-shirt-adorning slogan. For me, there never was a better country singer than you sir...especially your records on the Little Darlin label. “My music's always been about life. His biggest hit was “Take This Job and Shove It,” which inspired a movie by that name, and a title album that sold 2 million copies. To Sharon & Johnathon My sincere Condolences to you in the loss of a great Singer,husband and father..I met your husband many years ago when he perfomed for the citizens of Chatham Ontario Canada. The tune perfectly showcased his sense of humor and his hair-trigger temper; it earned him a Grammy nomination in 1977 and was the basis of a 1981 movie. Suffering from emphysema and asthma, after a lengthy illness, Johnny PayCheck died at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center. PayCheck joined the Grand Ole Opry cast in 1997. Ohio Gov. Country and Western singer Johnny Paycheck was found guilty Friday of shooting a man in a bar after an argument, and he was sentenced to up to 9 1/2 years in prison. Johnny was 64 years old at the time of death. PayCheck had been bedridden in a nursing home with emphysema and asthma. His brush with the law wasn't his first. In 2003, Paycheck took his last breath at the Nashville Vanderbilt University Medical center at the age of 64. His other hits included “Don't Take Her, She's All I Got,” (which was revived 25 years later in 1996 by Tracy Byrd), “I'm the Only Hell Mama Ever Raised,” “Slide Off Your Satin Sheets,” “Old Violin” and “You Can Have Her.” Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and ​celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows! PayCheck and his wife, Sharon, were married more than 30 years. Even though we lost one of country music’s greatest singers, his music will always and forever remain in our hearts. "They still remember me as that crazy, good-time-Charlie honky-tonker," he told the Nashville Tennessean, "and I don't tell 'em any different.". After being released from a military prison for hitting his superior, Paycheck was finally free. His growing alcoholism and constant touring took its toll and the couple split in 1965. Johnny PayCheck, the hard-living Nashville guitar slinger who urged the working class to "Take This Job and Shove It," has died. Jones, who gave PayCheck an early break by hiring him as a bass player and later recorded the album Double Trouble with PayCheck, donated a grave site for the singer, who died broke. When it came out, “Take This Job and Shove It” reached. He finally decided to change his name to Johnny Paycheck in 1964. He joined the Navy as a teenager in the 1950s. He was interred in Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville. RIP Johnny. ONE OF GREATEST SINGERS. He married his first wife, Dinorah, in 1956 and they had a daughter, Jacqueline. MISS YOU JOHNNY PAYCHECK, RIP. “I heard from fans constantly throughout the entire two years,” PayCheck said after his release. His old partying buddy George Jones remembered PayCheck as "a great country singer." At a very young age, Paycheck’s talent has already been discovered. His career almost ended in 1989, when he began a seven-to-nine-year sentence for shooting a man in the head in an Ohio bar in 1985 (the victim survived). Johnny Paycheck, who died Feb. 19, 2003 from emphysema and asthma at age 64, often made more headlines for stirring up trouble than climbing the charts. Get email updates about Johnny PayCheck delivered directly to your inbox. HE NEEDS TO BE IN THE HALL OF FAME AS ONE OF THE GREAT COUNTRY SINGERS!!! He usually served as a harmony singer for artists such as, He finally decided to change his name to Johnny Paycheck in 1964. Today, we remember the death of one of country music’s greatest country outlaw artists. After joining Jones' band, he had stints backing Faron Young, Ray Price and Poter Wagoner and, under the name "Donny Young," wrote hit tunes for Tammy Wynette ("Apartment #9) and Price ("Touch My Heart"). In 1960, Johnny Paycheck used the name Donny Young when writing songs and performing. Specializing in earthy, plainspoken songs, PayCheck recorded 70 albums and had more than two dozen hit singles. Some of which almost hit number one. “The letters never stopped, from throughout the world. Born Donald Eugene Lytle on May 31, 1938, in Greenfield, Ohio, he picked up the guitar at the age of 6 and began singing professionally by 15. A wonderful singer who will forever be remembered as a man who sang of doing what many of us wish we had the nerve to do as in "Telling our boss to take this job and shove it." They had one son. Johnny Paycheck was born as Donald Eugene Lytle on May 31, 1938, at Greenfield Ohio. https://www.countrythangdaily.com/johnny-paycheck-death-anniversary