George Hamilton IV, known as the International Ambassador of Country Music, died in Nashville last week at the age of 77. A member of the Grand Ole Opry for 50 years, George had his flight tickets booked for a UK tour with Sandy Kelly, starting in mid-October.

Tom Gilmore from the Tuam Herald and Galway Bay Radio was a special friend of George’s for many years. He learned of his sudden death with much regret.

“George was a lovely man with a deeply-held Christian outlook on life. I first saw him perform in Blackpool in 1977. I wrote a review of the show for Country Music People in England and he sent me a lovely letter and card at Christmas thanking me. I met him in Wembley a year or two later and that was the start of a long friendship. We exchanged cards every Christmas and phoned each other on a regular basis. The first time I visited Nashville he brought me backstage at the Opry and took me to the Country Hall of Fame during that visit.

“I was there again in 2000 and he was so helpful. I helped him with concerts in churches in Galway and Clifden some years back. I spoke to him last October while he was in Northern Ireland and had plans in place to meet him in London during his tour with Sandy Kelly on the Patsy Cline Show next month. He truly was one of nature’s gentlemen.”

George was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1937. His first major hit was Abilene and he also enjoyed chart success with a number of others, including Early Morning Rain, Canadian Pacific and Break My Mind.

He is survived by his wife Adelaide (Tinky) and their sons George V, who is a singer, and Peyton, who is a horse-trainer in Kentucky, daughter Mary and the family circle.