Pitchfork

The world lost a country music legend today. Singer Eddy Arnold, a chart staple for many years, passed away near Nashville this morning, according to reports in The New York Times and on Billboard.com. He was just a week shy of his 90th birthday.

Arnold rose to prominence in the years immediately following World War II, earning the nickname "The Tennessee Plowboy" and deploying a string of hits that dominated the country charts from the late 1940s on through the late 1960s. Indeed, his presence on the country charts is unmatched to this day. Arnold continued recording well into this decade, releasing his 100th album, After All This Time, in 2005. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966.

Later in his career, the crooner shed his plowboy image and adopted an urban gentleman look that complemented his songs' new lush arrangements. Those songs, which include hits "Make the World Go Away", "Somebody Like Me", and "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye", often towed a line between the traditional country & western style and a more mainstream pop sensibility. Two of Arnold's songs were later covered by Elvis Presley, whom Arnold is said to have influenced.

The singer, whose wife passed away earlier this year, is survived by two children, two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

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