PASADENA, Texas — Country music legend Mickey Gilley, whose Houston-area honky-tonk inspired the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy,” died on Saturday. He was 86.
Gilley, who had 17 No. 1 hits during his career, died in Branson, Missouri, according to The Associated Press. “He passed peacefully with his family and close friends by his side,” according to a statement from Mickey Gilley Associates.
By the mid-1970s, Gilley was a successful club owner and had a string of hits, including “Room Full of Roses,” “Window Up Above,” “She’s Pulling Me Back Again” and “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time.”
The singer’s death comes less than a week after he announced tour date cancellations, citing health issues and lower energy levels prevented him from being at his best, KHOU-TV reported.
Gilley had 39 top-10 country hits, according to the AP. He received six Academy of Country Music Awards, and was an occasional actor, appearing on “Murder She Wrote,” “The Fall Guy,” “Fantasy Island” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
