Country and pop singer Johnny Tillotson dies at 86

Johnny Tillotson, the country and pop singer, has died at 86.

The musician’s wife Nancy announced his passing on Facebook.

“It is with a broken heart that I write to let you know that the sweetest, kindest man I ever met Johnny Tillotson, left earth for Heaven yesterday,” she wrote. “He was my best beloved, Champion of my realm, Knight of my heart. Someone said that sometimes right in the middle of an ordinary life you get a fairy tale. The day I met him I got mine. He was funny, generous and kind. A gentleman through and through. He loved and was grateful to his fans, as he once said, they made every dream I ever had come true. Once again on his behalf I say thank you for that.”

Tillotson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1939. The singer recorded his first single ‘Dreamy Eyes’ / ‘Well I’m Your Man’ at 19 years old. He became known as a teen idol, with his biggest single ‘Poetry in Motion’ peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

The musician earned 25 entries on the Billboard charts, with four top 10s on the Hot 100, five hits on Hot Country Songs, two hits on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and nine entries on Adult Contemporary.

Tillotson’s songs ‘It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin’’ and ‘Heartaches by the Number’ were both Grammy nominated, with the former getting covered by artists like Elvis Presley, Margaret Whiting, Slim Whitman and Wanda Jackson.

Tillotson is remembered by his wife, his brother Dan, his son John, his stepdaughter Genevieve, and his grandchildren, nieces and nephews.