How much was Don Gibson worth?
| Net Worth: | $2 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Songwriter |
| Date of Birth: | April 3, 1928 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | Unknown |
“I consider myself a songwriter who sings rather than a singer who writes songs.” — Don Gibson
About Don Gibson
Donald Eugene Gibson was an American songwriter and country music performer who lived from April 3, 1928, to November 17, 2003. His estimated net worth was $2 million. At the age of 14, Don Gibson began playing the guitar after being inspired by the country music he was listening to. Gibson, a sharecropper’s son, dropped out of school in the second grade but discovered that farming was not his calling. His exit was via music.
Don Gibson was known as “The Sad Poet” because of the lyrics he frequently penned that dealt with loneliness and broken hearts. Gibson enjoyed a streak of country hits (“Sweet Dreams”) from 1957 until the middle of the 1970s. He wrote such country staples as “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “Oh Lonesome Me” In 1973, he was admitted to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Gibson started singing on the radio at the age of 16, and he performed in his teens with the band Sons of the Soil. Gibson collaborated on four songs with the group in 1949, and the following year he earned a record deal with RCA. The King Cotton Kinfolks, another group Gibson put together, was awarded a regular slot on The Tennessee Barn Dance. Gibson joined Columbia Records in 1952, but it wasn’t until he started penning his own songs that he truly found his voice.
- Wrote the country classics “Sweet Dreams,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” and “Oh Lonesome Me.”
- “I Can’t Stop Loving You” has been recorded over 700 times, and has sold over 30 million copies altogether.
- Gibson reportedly wrote “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “Oh Lonesome Me” on the same day. A pretty bad day: He was living in a trailer park and both his radio and television had been repossessessed.
- His song “Oh Lonesome Me” is considered a quintessential example of the Nashville Sound.
Gibson’s composition “Sweet Dreams,” earned him a publication deal with Fred Rose’s Acuff-Rose publishing business in the late 1950s, but only if Gibson could perform the song himself. Gibson, Faron Young, and Patsy Cline all had top 10 hits with the song. He joined RCA Victor in 1957, and Chet Atkins became his dependable producer. Oh Lonesome Me, Blue Blue Day, and Sea of Heartbreak were hits for Atkins.
Gibson struggled with a terrible heroin addiction for a large portion of the 1960s. The musician claims that he started abusing stimulants after using them to treat a weight issue. But he was nevertheless able to produce a significant amount of recordings. He performed numerous duets with Dottie West during this time, including “Rings of Gold” which peaked at #2 on the 1969 country charts. But by the 1970s, he had fixed up his act, wed Bobbi Patterson, and was back in the spotlight thanks to a fresh deal with Hickory Records. Gibson made a comeback to the top of the charts in 1972 with “Woman (Sensuous Woman). ” His song “(I’d Be) A Legend In My Time” gave Ronnie Milsap a No. 1 country hit in 1974. Gibson was admitted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
Gibson passed away on November 17, 2003, from natural causes. Don Gibson had a $2 million net worth at the time of his passing. In Shelby, North Carolina, the place of his birth, he was laid to rest in the Sunset Cemetery.
RCA Country Legends: Watch out for copycats. All of Gibson’s key songs are included in this compilation in their original recordings. “Sea of Heartbreak,” “Sweet Dreams,” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” are a few of them.
The Singer, The Songwriter: 1949–1960 (vol. 1), 1960–1966 (vol. 2), and 1966–1969 (vol. 3): You can’t go wrong with this set from Bear Family Records if you’re a Gibson enthusiast who has to have everything. But you might lose your money. The first and second volumes contain a wealth of songs from Gibson’s peak years as a singer. Volume three, which covers his later years, is less important. Twelve discs altogether.
Number One Country Hits:
- “Oh Lonesome Me” (1958)
- “Blue Blue Day” (1958)
- “Woman (Sensuous Woman)” (1972)
Notable Versions of Don Gibson Songs
- Ray Charles – “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
- Neil Young – “Oh Lonesome Me
- Ronny Milsap – “I’d Be a Legend in My Time”
- Patsy Cline – “Sweet Dreams”
- Johnny Cash – “Sea of Heartbreak
