The Grammy-nominated singer also released Sixties hit “It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin,” which was covered by Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and Wanda Jackson
Johnny Tillotson, the singer behind Sixties hits “Poetry in Motion” and “It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin’,” has died at the age of 86.
Tillotson’s wife, Nancy, confirmed the news in a social media post, a day after his death. “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 in a caption alongside a photo of the two together. “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,” Nancy continued. “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.”
Her post highlighted the singer’s “extraordinary achievements” in music. Tillotson, a native from Jacksonville, Florida shot to fame with his 1961 track “Poetry in Motion,” which reached Number Two on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, he released “It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin’,” which hit Number Three on the Hot 100 and garnered him Grammy nominations for best country and western recording. The track would go on to be covered by numerous artists including Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and Wanda Jackson.
His 1965 song “Heartaches by the Number” would earn him his second Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Performance.
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In March, just days before his death, Tillotson released the song “Everything I Touch Turns to Blue.”
In his wife’s remembrance of Tillotson, she wrote, “Johnny will be missed every single day for the rest of my life. He was simply the best. With all the love I have in my heart for a wonderful man gone too soon from this world.”
