Charlie Daniels‘ son, Charlie Daniels, Jr., once wasn’t sure his father would get to experience the last 10 years of his life. After the singer suffered a stroke in 2010 in Colorado, Daniels, Jr. thought that might be the end, at least of seeing his father perform on stage and enjoying life to the fullest. But in many ways, the last decade was the best for the country music icon, who refused to slow down until the very end.
“When I got the call from dad in 2010 that he was having a stroke after snowmobiling and they were heading to the hospital … I just had a feeling that dad was done touring, he would never take the stage again to perform, and that everything was going to change in our world, and change drastically,” Daniels, Jr. recalled in a new blog posted on the Charlie Daniels Band’s website. “But thank God, I was wrong.”
“Dad had an amazing last ten years of his life,” he continued. “At 73 years old, many artists have slowed down considerably, and are enjoying the fruits of their labors – or the consequences of excesses – but not my dad. Dad loved performing almost as much as he loved my mom and me, and he got to do that and so much more. He always said that what he was the most proud of was that he had managed to keep 25+ people gainfully employed for over 45 years, and some as long as 47.”
Charlie also got to enjoy what is considered to be the pinnacle of a career in country music: being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“Dad was overcome with emotion, as we all were. He was flabbergasted,” Daniels, Jr. recounted. “But dad said that everything else in his career was the cake and the icing, but that this was the cherry on the top. This was the one honor you couldn’t work towards, this was the one that was completely out of your hands. The voting was secret, and the voting system was not well known outside of the CMA board, so everything was very confidential.
“But he had finally made it into something he could not have dreamed of as a child listening to Roy Acuff on the Grand Ole Opry 70 plus years before,” he added.
Charlie released his autobiography, Never Look at the Empty Seats, after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“Dad had also been working on his autobiography, but could never find a stopping point, until the Hall of Fame,” the proud son recalled. “The night of his medallion ceremony in October where he along with fellow Tarheels Randy Travis and producer Fred Foster were officially inducted as Hall of Fame members, dad came back and started writing the last of his autobiography, which was later published as Never Look at the Empty Seats.
“So, dad finally got to have his life story published,” he recounted, “and he even recorded the audiobook, and there is nothing better than listening to dad read you the story of his life.”
2021 Volunteer Jam: A Musical Salute to Charlie Daniels will take place on February 22 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Performers include Alabama, Ricky Skaggs, Old Crow Medicine Show, Tucker Band, Chris Janson, Charley Pride, Larry, Steve & Rudy: The Gatlin Brothers, Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy, Delbert McClinton, Keb’ Mo’, The Outlaws, .38 Special, The Allman Betts Band, Travis Denning, Rhett Akins and more. Tickets are available for purchase via Ticketmaster.
Charlie passed away on July 6, after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. The family requests donations be made to the Journey Home Project, a non-profit he founded along with his manager, David Corlew, to help veterans returning to civilian life, in his honor.