NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Singer-songwriter Jan Howard, who had a No. 1 country hit “For Loving You” with Bill Anderson and wrote hits for others like Kitty Wells’ “It’s All Over But the Crying,” has died at age 91, according to the Grand Ole Opry.
The Opry, of which she was a member for nearly 50 years, announced her death on Saturday.
“Jan Howard was a force of nature in country music, at the Opry, and in life,” said Dan Rogers, the Grand Ole Opry’s vice president and executive producer, said in a statement. “We were all so lucky so many nights to hear her voice on stage and to catch up with her backstage. We’re all better for having had her in our lives.”
The Missouri-born Howard had her first hit in 1960 with “The One You Slip Around With,” and had a string of others including “Evil on Your Mind” and “Bad Seed.”
But she had her biggest success as a duo with Anderson, including “I Know You’re Married,” “Someday We’ll Be Together” and”For Loving You,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country chart in 1967.
She also wrote for others, including Wells’ song and Connie Smith’s hit “I Never Once Stopped Loving You.”
Her most personal song was perhaps “My Son,” which she wrote as plea for her son Jimmy’s safe return from the Vietnam war. He was killed two weeks after its release in 1968. Another son later killed himself.
Howard documented her triumphs and struggles in the 1987 autobiography “Sunshine and Shadow.”
She is survived by her remaining son, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
