Lee Hazelwood Dead

Though you are certain to have heard some of the songs that he wrote – including Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walking” – you may not know the man behind many of country and western’s greatest tunes. His name was Lee Hazlewood, and he was known to many of the greats as one of the best songwriters in the business.

Born in Mannford, Oklahoma, Hazelwood was the son of an oil man, and took many of his father’s experiences with him throughout life transforming them into soulful ballads. Hazelwood attempted a medical degree from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas, but wound up serving his country with the United States Army during the Korean War.

Hazlewood paid his bills as a disc jockey, but kept on writing his personal songs in his spare time. Lee didn’t stick to solely writing country songs (although the genre always had his heart) and some of his more famous hits were “The Fool” sung by rockabilly artist Sanford Clark (1956) and “Houston” sung by the legendary Dean Martin. But the list doesn’t stop there, interestingly his songs were picked up by the “underground music scene” such as Lydia Lunch, Primal Scream, Nick Cave, Hooverphonic, Megadeth, and Boyd Rice.

This regal writer’s career would slowly begin to wind down with the diagnosis of renal cancer in 2005. Throughout his two year battle with cancer, Hazelwood managed to put out a new album “Cake or Death.” Lee passed away on August 4th at the age of seventy-eight at his home in Henderson, Nevada, surrounded by his wife Jeane, his son Mark, and daughters Debbie and Samantha. The country music industry will certainly miss this star’s shining talent.