Red Lane: Nashville Hall Of Famer Dies After Long Battle With Cancer

Red Lane — songwriter for music greats such as Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Roger Miller — died on Wednesday, July 1, at the age of 76, Billboard reports. Reportedly, Red Lane passed away after a long battle against cancer.

Lane, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993, was actually named Hollis Rudolph DeLaughter and was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana. After high school, and his brief time as an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force, he began performing in nightclubs and at talent shows.

He experienced his first real success as an artist in 1971 when his hit “The World Needs a Melody” managed to crack the top 40 on the music charts. While not abandoning his passion for aviation — which led him to undertake jumping out of airplanes — in later years Lane still managed to put together a series of hits such as Tammy Wynette’s song,”Til I Get It Right,” which topped the charts in 1973.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYgKkfelft8

Lane loved aircraft and he even earned his pilot’s license. As previously mentioned, Lane often went skydiving and this extreme hobby lead to him writing the hit-song, “The Day I Jumped From Uncle Harvey’s Plane,” which was recorded by Roger Miller. According to Rolling Stone, Lane also purchased a DC-8 passenger jet and converted it into a home in Ashland City, where he lived for over 30 years.

Red Lane experienced a lot of success as a songwriter, and he was offered a recording contract with RCA Victor, the second-oldest recording company in U.S. history. During his time with the company, Lane placed four songs on the charts in 1971-72. However, Lane eventually returned to songwriting and he became widely popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Red Lane’s recent death saddened many country music fans and it was especially rough for singer-songwriter Matraca Berg, who first met Lane through her aunt and uncle when she was just a young child. Speaking with The Tennessean, Berg recalled some fond memories of the times she shared with the country great.

“He was my first big hero. He came to the house, pulled up a chair, got out his guitar and started making up melodies to nursery rhymes, and he’d sing them with me. He was thoughtful, highly intelligent and very kind and so funny. He was so dry and quick that I was always fighting to keep up.”

[Image via YouTube screenshot]