Where These Legendary Country Stars Are Buried
Country music is full of songs about sad subjects, like heartbreak and the difficulties of everyday life. But it also talks about loss, as in when you lose someone forever. Perhaps more than other genres of music, country songs embrace discussing aging and dying, and the pain of someone you love leaving this earth.
Of course, no matter how much they might sing about it to prepare their fans, it's always crushing when a country star dies. Some legends lived long, full lives, while others managed to become icons before being taken far too soon. They left behind catalogs of beloved songs and legacies, but they also leave behind bodies that need to be buried.
They might not put it that way in their heartbreaking lyrics, but when a country legend dies, there's the small matter of the funeral and burial. This is where these legendary country stars are buried.
Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers was crossover country star, with three Grammys and hits including songs like "Lucille," "The Gambler," and "Islands in the Stream," the latter a duet with the wonderful Dolly Parton. He only retired in 2017, after performing for a whopping 60 years. He died three years later, aged 81.
Obviously, there were fans who would have wanted to celebrate Rogers in some official way, but because he died in 2020, a big funeral wasn't possible, and even a memorial was delayed indefinitely. Rolling Stone reported that a representative for his loved ones released a statement saying, "Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family. The family is planning a small private service at this time out of concern for the national COVID-19 emergency. They look forward to celebrating Kenny's life publicly with his friends and fans at a later date."
However, you can go see his final resting place. According to Find a Grave, Kenny Rogers is buried at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. He doesn't have a gravestone so much as a massive tomb/Greek temple. Sitting in a normal cemetery surrounded by small, traditional headstones, Roger's gleaming black marble tomb is surrounded by six columns, topped by a marble circle etched with the musician's name and "Will the circle be unbroken," the title of a classic country song recorded by many other artists, and covered by Rogers in 2011.
Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels was a controversial figure, especially later in life, due to his very outspoken political beliefs. But even for those who disagreed with him on everything, and even if you aren't into country music at all, you know Daniels' hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." You've probably pretended to fiddle along with it when it comes on an oldies station. Daniels died in 2020, aged 83, from a hemorrhagic stroke.
The musician's politics were on full display at his funeral. As the Tennessean reported, it opened with a hymn, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. "He always said two things protected America: The grace of God and the United States military," one speaker eulogized. "... He was a man that believed to his core what America represented." But at least one speaker understood that some people, including possibly some mourners who attended the funeral, weren't on the same page politically as Daniels. "You might not have agreed with his politics, or even cared for his music," said friend Roger Campbell. "But you could not help but love the man."
According to Find a Grave, Charlie Daniels is buried at Mount Juliet Memorial Gardens in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. His gravesite is covered by a slab of marble, with a large black and gold plaque. It has his name and dates, as well as his ornate signature, and the text of Psalm 91: 1-8. There's also a vase for mourners to leave flowers.
Patsy Cline
Despite her brief career, Patsy Cline managed to become one of the biggest country icons ever. Her hits included "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy," the latter of which is the No. 1 jukebox hit of all time, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame. She died in 1963, aged just 30, in a plane crash.
Her celebrity and tragic death meant her funeral was a massive deal, drawing thousands of fans from across the country, reports the Washington Post. One pallbearer said, "Patsy was like a religion with them." "It was tremendous," the Rev. Nathan Williamson remembered. "It was something very unusual: all those crowds, and so respectful, too." However, the crowd would not stay respectful once they got to the cemetery. A reporter who was there wrote, "The people — jammed in close to the small tent over the grave — began snatching literally from the side of the grave, everything and anything they could lay their hands on, short of the gold finished coffin."
According to Find a Grave, Patsy Cline is buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in Frederick County, Virginia. It would be easy to miss her flat marker if you didn't know her real married name. The gravestone is a double one, shared with husband Charles Dick. Her side is marked with her birth name, Virginia H. (for Hensley), and only underneath is there a nod to her famous stage name with Patsy Cline in parentheses. The epitaph reads "Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies – Love."
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash were country's golden couple. They'd both found success before they married, and more after. Johnny's hits included "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues," "A Boy Named Sue," and "I Walk the Line," while June had hits with her family band as a child, and later recorded classic and Grammy-winning duets with Johnny like "Jackson," "If I Were A Carpenter," "It Ain't Me Babe," and "If I Had A Hammer."
June died first, in May 2003, aged 73, after heart surgery, reports the NME. Johnny attended the funeral, but her death had obviously badly affected him. Rosanne Cash, Johnny's daughter with his first wife Vivian, said, "My daddy has lost his dearest companion ... and his soul mate." Johnny would not last long without her, dying that September. His friend Kris Kristofferson told the Hollywood Reporter, "He was a fighter, and he had a strong spirit, but it was the hardest thing that he probably ever faced in his life. His kids told me that he still cried all the time at night."
According to Find a Grave, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash are buried at Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Their graves are side by side with one massive flat stone covering both. It has two long plaques, one for June with Psalm 103:1, and one for Johnny with Psalm 19:14; both also have their signatures in gold, and at the head of the grave is a black marble bench.
Charley Pride
Charley Pride was country music's "first Black superstar," per the Country Music Hall of Fame. Some of his 29 #1 country hits include "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone," "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'," and "All I Have to Offer You Is Me." But as you might expect, breaking into country music as a Black artist is hard, and was even harder in the 1960s. Pride once told NPR about the subterfuge necessary to get a record deal: "I did a dub for Jack Clement [a white artist]. Chet Atkins took it out to Monterey, Calif., and played it for all the bigwigs there. And he said, how do you like this voice? So they all said, it sounds good. So when he showed the picture and said he was colored, everybody looked at one another. And unanimously, they said, well, we still going to sign him. We ain't going to say nothing about it. And that's the way they did it."
Pride died in December 2020, aged 86, from Covid-19 complications.
According to Find a Grave, Charlie Pride is buried at Calvary Hill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Dallas, Texas. Other than that, it's not known if he has a memorial as of time of writing, or if he does, what it looks like. It might be that he died too recently for an elaborate memorial to have been commissioned yet. Whatever his next of kin decide, hopefully it will be amazing and worthy of such a groundbreaking musician.
Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette was known as "the first lady of country music," according to CNN. Her many hits included classics like "Stand by Your Man," "I Don't Wanna Play House," and "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." She died in 1998, aged just 55, from a blood clot in her lung.
Her funeral was small and private, per CBS News. Despite that, celebrity mourners included George Jones, Garth Brooks, Naomi Judd, and Crystal Gayle. Lorrie Morgan, Randy Travis, and the Oak Ridge Boys all performed, as did Dolly Parton, although Rare Country says she was so overcome with emotion that she couldn't finish her song. Loretta Lynn was meant to speak but was too upset to even attend. Wynette's passing so young had obviously affected her loved ones, including her husband George Richey who said, "I didn't think it would happen the way it did." A public memorial for fans followed Wynette's funeral, where more celebrities like Wynonna and Rudy Gatlin honored her.
According to Find a Grave, Tammy Wynette is entombed at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, Tennessee. Her spot is located in the middle row, fronted by white marble and marked with just her name and dates. But it didn't stay simple for long. As photos on Find a Grave show, fans and mourners cover her tomb with images of Wynette from throughout her life, and leave flowers in the attached vases, small tokens of appreciation, and even lipstick kisses.
Hank Williams
Hank Williams Sr. was "one of America's first country music superstars," according to Biography. His hits included songs like "Cold, Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey Good Lookin'," and "Lost Highway." He might have become one of the most famous and successful music artists of all time, but his life was tragically cut short in 1953, aged just 29. Williams dealt with substance abuse issues, and died of a heart attack in the back of a car on the way to a concert.
Country Thang Daily says that more than 25,000 people turned out for Williams' funeral. Since the auditorium it was held in couldn't fit anywhere near that many people, the audio was broadcast over loudspeakers to the crowds outside. Amazingly, a recording survives to this day.
According to Find a Grave, Hank Williams is buried at Oakwood Annex Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama. His gravesite is, to put it mildly, ostentatious. His headstone is more like a huge monument, as is that of his first wife Audrey, who is buried next to him. There are etchings of cowboys, boots, music notes, and guitars. There's a full-size cowboy hat made of marble. The various epitaphs recall titles and lines from his biggest hits: "Men with Broken Hearts, "I Just Told Mama Goodbye," "Luke the Drifter," "I'll never get out of this world alive," and "Praise the Lord – I saw the light." A message to eager fans from Hank Williams Jr. is also etched on a stone: "Please do not desecrate this sacred spot."
Merle Haggard
The Country Music Hall of Fame does not hold back when explaining Merle Haggard's impact. According to the organization he was no less than "the single most influential singer-songwriter in country music history" – with the possible exception of Hank Williams Sr. Some of his songs include "Okie from Muskogee," "Mama Tried," and "Big City." He died in 2016, aged 79, from pneumonia.
Haggard's funeral was held at his ranch and extremely private. (Pictured, the gates to get into the ranch during the funeral, guarded by security.) Rolling Stone reported that plenty of celebrity friends made the cut, though. There were performances by Kris Kristofferson, Connie Smith, and Haggard's old bandmate Ronnie Reno. Kristofferson sang numerous songs and during one, "Sing Me Back Home," the lyric sheet blew away. Kristofferson jokingly blamed his dead friend for it, saying, "Merle'd done that on purpose." Haggard's three sons also performed one of their father's songs together.
Unfortunately for fans who might want to pay their respects, his final resting place is just as private as his funeral was. According to Find a Grave, Merle Haggard is buried at the Haggard Family Ranch Cemetery in Palo Cedro, California. Because it's his family's land, you can't get to the grave without trespassing, and there don't seem to be any images of his gravestone (if he has one) anywhere online. For someone who was such an icon, you'd hope it's a pretty impressive monument.
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson was the daughter of two songwriters but found even more success in music herself. Rolling Stone reports her massive crossover hit "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" reached #3 on the U.S. pop chart, as well as #1 in Canada, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand, and the Top 5 in the Netherlands, Austria, and the U.K. The album of the same name held the record for best selling by a female country singer for 26 years. The Tennessean says she was the first female country singer to play to a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, and performed for President Jimmy Carter.
But Anderson was modest about her achievements. He kids didn't even learn about many of them until she died of a heart attack in 2015, aged 67. "It's a great reminder for us to read things like, 'First ever,' 'Best in the world,'" her son said. "A lot of family, fathers and children don't get to read that about their mothers, their daughters, their loved ones. ... If we ever heard about it, it was from others. She was trying to be a good person. She was trying to be a good mother, and a good daughter, and never ever would go without telling us how proud of us she was."
According to Find a Grave, Lynn Anderson is interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, Tennessee. Her tomb is simple, marked by her name and dates, but images show that fans cover it with pictures and mementos.
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty might be familiar to some people only as a weird, prolonged joke on the show "Family Guy." But he was an astonishingly talented musician. According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Twitty had the most No. 1 country records in history during his lifetime: 55 of them. He wasn't just a great voice, but a brilliant songwriter as well, and wrote 11 of his songs that topped the charts. He is also known for his duets with Loretta Lynn, including "After the Fire Is Gone," "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man," and "Feelin's."
The Oklahoman says his funeral was private, but thousands of fans and many country celebs turned out for his memorial. Those who spoke included Vince Gill, George Jones, the Statler Brothers, Ronnie McDowell, the Oak Ridge Boys, Tammy Wynette, Connie Smith. Reba McEntire said, "I used to open the show for Conway, I loved to hear Conway close the show. I'm not ready for Conway to close the show." Twitty's daughter Kathy eulogized, "Country lost a superstar. We lost the heart and soul of our family."
According to Find a Grave, Conway Twitty is buried at Sumner Memorial Gardens in Gallatin, Tennessee. He's entombed in a mausoleum-style wall, but it is located outside. His double tomb – which he shares with his wife as of October 2021 – is labeled with his real name, Harold L. Jenkins. The red marble is simple, and the plaque with his name is decorated only with a small image of an open Bible.
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on the plane that crashed on "the day the music died." Fortunately for him, he gave up his seat for someone else (not good for them, obviously). After cheating death, he went on to become a country superstar. His hits included the Grammy-winning songs "MacArthur Park" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," a duet with Willie Nelson. Jennings' lifestyle meant he suffered from many health issues in his final years, including losing a foot to diabetes. He died in 2002, aged 64, in his sleep from diabetic complications.
His public memorial was quite the event, reports CMT News, billed as "I've Always Been Crazy: A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Waylon Jennings." Fans wore shirts reading "Waylon F*****g Jennings." Celebrity guests included Graham Nash, Kenny Rogers, Paul Simon, Billy Bob Thornton, Neil Diamond, James Garner, and James Hetfield. A video of clips from his life was played, including an appearance on the TV show "Politically Incorrect," where he said, "We don't want to impeach Clinton. We just want somebody to kick his a**."
According to Find a Grave, Waylon Jennings is buried at City of Mesa Cemetery in Mesa, Arizona. His tombstone has a picture of the musician, and a Bible verse: "I am my beloved's, My beloved is mine" (Song of Solomon 6:3). His epitaph reads "A vagabond dreamer, A rhymer and singer of songs, A revolutionary in country music, Beloved by the world."
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell was a true country original, with hits including songs like "Gentle on My Mind," "Wichita Lineman," and "Rhinestone Cowboy." He died in 2017, aged 81, six years after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Fans who wanted to celebrate his life might have been disappointed when his family released a statement saying (via Taste of Country), "The Campbell family would like to thank everyone for their enormous outpouring of love and support. Glen was laid to rest on Wednesday in a private ceremony in his hometown of Delight, Ark. A private memorial will follow." At the memorial service, Country Living reports that Campbell's wife Kimberly explained in her eulogy how hard losing him was, saying she had been in "total darkness" and that she's "been searching for that new light to emerge from the other side. Waiting for the world to come back to life so that I can see clearly again."
According to Find a Grave, Glen Campbell is buried at Campbell's Cemetery in Billstown, Arkansas. His large tombstone will eventually be shared with his wife and is etched with Jewish iconography like menorahs and six-pointed stars. Under his name and dates is "Psalm 23," which famously starts "The Lord is my shepherd" and includes the line "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."