Biography
Singer-songwriter Charlie Daniels fused traditional country music with elements of rock and bluegrass for a handful of singles in the 1970s and early 1980s that enjoyed Top 40 status on both pop and country charts, including "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," "The South's Gonna Do It" and "In America." A prolific session player for Columbia Records producer Bob Johnson in the late 1960s, Daniels made inroads towards a solo career in 1971 but found only sporadic success until his chart-topping country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." A hard-driving ballad about a duel with Satan over a fiddler's soul, the single highlighted Daniels' exceptional fiddling talents while also reaching the southern rock fan base, which boosted the track to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. Despite the monster success of that career-making single, Daniels would remain in the mainstream spotlight for only a few years, though he remained both a popular concert performer. Charlie Daniels' music bridged the gap between rock, blues and country in frequently impressive ways, which ensured his status as one of the most popular country music figures of the late 20th century, although his increasingly conservative political leanings divided his audience in the 2000s. Charlie Daniels died on July 6, 2020 at the age of 83.
