Mac Davis, the singer-songwriter who parlayed pop and country hits into a network TV variety show and acting career, has died. He was 78.
His manager of nearly four decades, Jim Morey, announced Davis’ death on Facebook Tuesday night. “He was a music legend but his most important work was that as a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend,” Morey wrote. “I will miss laughing about our many adventures on the road and his insightful sense of humor.” The Country Music Association later confirmed the news.
Country superstar Kenny Chesney offered his tribute to Davis, saying, “I met Mac as a young artist just starting out on my journey, when he was already a legend and a songwriting hero to me. He welcomed me into his home, and turned that tremendous creative light on me. Even though he’d written ‘In The Ghetto’ for Elvis and had so many incredible hits of his own, he made me feel like what I was doing mattered. A small town boy who’d achieved the greatest kinds of fame, he remained a good guy, a family man. That was Mac: a giant heart, quick to laugh and a bigger creative spirit. I was blessed to have it shine on me. And Mac, who was joyous, funny and created a family around him, never stopped writing great songs, creating music and inspiring everyone around him. He loved his wife Lisa and his kids, and all kinds of people. He kept in touch, always a kind word, a new joke or a piece of song he was working on, which made him a blessing to everyone who came into his life.”
Davis became known as the songwriter behind the Elvis Presley hits “In the Ghetto,” “A Little Less Conversation” and “Memories” before reaching No. 1 himself on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me” in 1971. He soon parlayed his pop success into a career based more in country music. Davis was named entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 1974 and was nominated for that same title the same year by the Country Music Association.
Davis’ sex appeal and easy charm made him a favorite on the talk show circuit, and he was rewarded with his own NBC variety series, “The Mac Davis Show,” from 1974-76, followed by annual network Christmas specials that spanned well into the ’80s. He even had a brief span as a leading man in feature films, peaking right out of the gate as Nick Nolte’s fellow leading man in the 1979 football drama “North Dallas Forty.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety