Country Legend Mac Davis Dead at Age 78
By Amanda Thomason
Published October 1, 2020 at 11:10am
Mac Davis, a well-decorated songwriter and actor, passed away on Tuesday after suffering complications from heart surgery. He was 78.
Perhaps best known for the songs he wrote for Elvis Presley, the Lubbock, Texas, native will be remembered for hits like “In the Ghetto,” “A Little Less Conversation,” “Don’t Cry, Daddy” and “Memories.”
According to IMDb, Presley needed a moment after reading through “Don’t Cry, Daddy.”
“‘Don’t Cry Daddy’ is a pretty sad song,” Davis said. “He got to the end of it and it was just real quiet and Elvis says, ‘I’m gonna cut that someday for my daddy.’ And, by God, he did. He lived up to his word.”
“Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” “Stop and Smell the Roses,” “It’s Hard to Be Humble” and “I Never Made Love (Till I Made it with You)” were other songs he is well-known for, published under his own name.
He always seemed to be working on something, and as recently as 2013 was collaborating with Swedish DJ Avicii to write “Addicted to You.”
www.facebook.com/BillyRayCyrus/posts/2086761711458041
Davis also took up acting, making a name for himself in “North Dallas Forty.” He had parts in a variety of other productions, including “That ’70s Show,” “King of the Hill,” Dolly Parton’s “Heartstrings” and two seasons of the aptly named “The Mac Davis Show” on NBC.
The man of many talents has many awards to his name. In 1974, he was named the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year.
He made it into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006, was given a Hollywood Star, and his acting was recognized with an induction into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2014.
“One of my real goals was to hear someone whistling a song I’d written,” he said, according to IMDb.
Kenny Chesney posted about the famed songwriter and his down-to-earth demeanor, praising his talent, humility and kindness.
Poster Comment:
A great loss of the writer of the Male Chauvinist National Anthem, Lord It's Hard to be Humble.