Country Artist Johnny Russell

Active as a performer and recording artist in the 1970s and 1980s, Johnny Russell was remembered for “Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer,” perhaps Country Music’s quintessential blue-collar anthem. The song was nominated later that year for a Grammy Award. Russell is also known for hits such as “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor”, “Catfish John”, and “Hello, I Love You”. Years later, George Strait topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with Russell’s song “Let’s Fall to Pieces Together”. His greatest legacy was as a successful Country songwriter whose compositions were recorded by many artists.

In 1987, Russell hosted his first annual concert in Moorhead, at the Mississippi Delta Community College Coliseum. These went on for 13 years, his final on April 29, 2000.

By 2001, Russell’s health had been in a state of decline (for years, he had used his obesity as a running joke on the Grand Ole Opry), and in April 2001, both of his legs were amputated because of diabetes. Russell died July 3, 2001, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 61 from diabetes-related complications.