Country music star Kinky Friedman – the proudly provocative Texas satirist who was recognized for hits like Offered American – has died. He was 79.
Friedman’s demise was confirmed within the early hours of Friday morning with an official assertion shared to his X (previously Twitter) web page, which revealed he “stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by household & associates.”
“Kinkster endured large ache & unthinkable loss lately however he by no means misplaced his preventing spirit and fast wit,” the assertion stated.
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“Kinky will dwell on as his books are learn and his songs are sung,” the assertion concluded.
Friedman’s pal of fifty years, author and musician Cleve Hattersley, additionally confirmed his demise, telling the Texas Tribune that Friedman – who was referred to as ‘Kinky’ however born Richard Samet Friedman – had been battling Parkinson’s illness.
”He was a communicator. An uncommon, however very pointed and poignant communicator,” Hattersley instructed the outlet.
“He might deliver you to tears on stage. He might make you roll on the ground in laughter.”
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Born in Chicago in 1944, Friedman was recognized for being eccentric, and had a popularity for curt one-liners and heavy satire, typically delivered with a brimmed cowboy hat on his head and a cigar in his hand.
Per Rolling Stone, Friedman thought-about music legends Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan as a few of his closest associates, and in addition befriended a number of United States presidents, together with Invoice Clinton and George W. Bush.
His strong discography – notably together with albums Offered American (1973) and Lasso from El Paso (1976) – earnt him a cult following of alt-country music followers attributable to his unconventional strategy to the style.
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Exterior of the music world, Friedman was a prolific author, authoring a number of detective novels within the Nineteen Eighties and ’90s. He was additionally a columnist for Rolling Stone and Texas Month-to-month at sure factors.
He additionally ran for the governor of Texas in 2006, embarking on a famously flamboyant marketing campaign that was in the end unsuccessful.
“My nice pal for half a century, Kinky Friedman, slipped away peacefully at dwelling in his sleep early this morning,” Friedman’s long-term pal Kent Perkins wrote on Fb.
“He leaves a legacy of laughter, music, loyalty, mercy, tolerance, servitude, and knowledge.”
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Friedman, in line with Perkins, was recognized amongst his shut circle as somebody who was a “compassionate, philanthropic, soft-spoken man who devoted a lot of his life to serving others much less lucky.” He and his sister Marcie did, in spite of everything, discovered the Echo Hill Ranch Gold Star Camp for younger girls and boys.
“I realized loads from Kinky. I by no means met a extra trustworthy, witty, selfless, beneficiant, or honest individual than Richard Samet ‘Kinky’ Friedman,” Perkins continued.
“Someplace in heaven, I am certain there is a quiet nook with an enormous straightforward chair, a shiny flooring lamp, an enormous stack of biographical books, and some previous canine wagging their tails to the faint odor of cigar smoke. Relaxation in peace, my pal.”
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