Country singer Jim Ed Brown dies at 81

Source: Tennessean

The smooth-voiced singer Jim Ed Brown, a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1963 and a 2015 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, died Thursday. He was 81.

Last September, he revealed that he had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer. In early 2015, Mr. Brown announced that he was in remission, but on June 3 of this year, his daughter Kim posted on Facebook that her father's cancer had returned—although not in his lungs—and that he had resumed chemotherapy. One day later, when Mr. Brown's condition appeared unlikely to improve, his dear friend and country legend Bill Anderson visited Mr. Brown in his hospital room to present him with a Country Music Hall of Fame medallion, five months ahead of the official induction ceremony.

James Edward Brown was born on April 1, 1934 in Sparkman, Arkansas; later, his family of seven would move to Pine Bluff, Ark. Growing up, he'd listen to Opry stars like Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe, and sing with his older sister Maxine and younger sister Bonnie.

Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/06/11/country-singer-jim-ed-brown-dies/71097224/