The celebrated cowboy singer passed away Sunday at age 86.
We’re wishing happy trails to cowboy musician and historian Don Edwards, who passed away Sunday at age 86.
The widely recognized and much admired artist was nominated for two Grammys, named Best Male Performer by the Western Music Association, and received eight Wrangler Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. In 2005, he was inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame.
No less a luminary than Gene Autry once said of Edwards, “I’m proud and honored to be riding the same trail as you.” More recently, Bobby Weaver of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame hailed Edwards as “the best purveyor of cowboy music in America today.” And Robert Redford was so impressed by his cowboy bona fides, he cast Edwards as a supporting character named Smokey in his 1998 movie The Horse Whisperer.
A statement on Edwards’ website encapsulates Edwards’ many talents: “An historian, author and musicologist, unusually well-versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions, Don brings a rare complement of knowing and loving his craft. Mostly though, there is the soul of a poet, a man who has never succumbed to the temptation of presenting a glamorized or romanticized version of the West.”
We are celebrating the life of Don Edwards by listening to his wonderful music.