Country music legend dead at 95: ‘An important part of country music history’

EntertainmentCountry music legend Frankie Miller has died. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)Getty ImagesBy Brian Linder | blinder@pennlive.comFrankie Miller, one of country music’s oldest performers, has died. He was 95.News Channel 5 in Nashville reported that Miller died Saturday from natural causes at his home. “Frankie had just completed work and released his biography, ‘The Blackland Farmer: Life Among Country Music Legends,’ written by Greg Wilson,” Heart of Texas Records President Tracy Pitcox told the news station. “He remained active in the industry and continued to enjoy making music into his 90s.”Pitcox said that Miller was just a few years removed from performing with his friend, Willie Nelson, at the Luck Reunion Festival. News Channel 5 reported that Miller was born in Victoria, Texas, in 1930 and began performing with his first band, The Drifting Texans, as a teen. The station said that Miller released his first singles in 1951, and his big break came in 1959 when he released “Blackhand Farmer.” That song hit No. 5 on the country charts that year and re-entered the charts in 1961. Miller toured with the likes of Nelson, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb and Buck Owens during his career. He was also a talented songwriter who had songs recorded by the likes of Pat Boone and Dwight Yoakam.Miller also performed at the Grand Ole Opry. He kept making music into the later years of his life. That included the albums “Back When Gas Was 60 Cents A Gallon,” in 2012 and “A Friend Remembered: My Tribute to George Jones” in 2020.“I met Frankie first over the phone thanks to the great Tracy Pitcox who has spent a lifetime finding the living legends and getting them the attention and praise they deserve in their later years,” Grand Ole Country Bunker wrote on Facebook. “Frankie Miller is not a household name even to most classic country fans. But he was part of an important part of country music history.”Miller’s death comes in a year when country music has lost two more of its oldest legends – Al Shade and Violet Hensley. Brian Linder is the trending editor at PennLive.com. He has more than 20 years of experience working for newspapers first in South Carolina, then Daytona Beach, Florida and now in Pennsylvania. Linder spent...