Many of us grow up listening to country music, which is also known as country and western, and hillbilly music. It is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern United States in the early 1920s. It takes its roots from genres such as American folk music and blues.
Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), professionally known as Buck Owens, was a musician, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was front man for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos which had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts. It pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, named after Bakersfield, CA the city Owens called home and from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call "American music". His most famous song is " Tiger By the Tail".
Owens successfully recovered from oral cancer in the early 1990s, but had additional health problems near the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s, including pneuumonia and a minor stroke in 2004. These health problems had forced him to curtail his regular weekly performances with the Buckaroos at his Crystal Palace. Owens died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on March 25, 2006, only hours after performing at his club.
Owens is buried at Greenlawn Southwest Mortuary and Cemetery, Bakersfield, CA. The front of the mausoleum is inscribed "The Buck Owens Family" with the words "Buck's Place" beneath.