March 8, 2009 – Hank Locklin was born on February 15th 1918 in McLellan in the Florida Panhandle.
His pop hits, the only reason why he shows up on this listing, include “Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On”, “Geisha Girl”, and “Please Help Me I’m Falling”, which went to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart. Billboard Magazine’s 100th Anniversary issue also listed it as the second most successful country single of the Rock and Roll era.
As a songwriter, many of his songs were covered by by many other artists, including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Roy Rogers, Dwight Yoakam and even Dean Martin.
Hank had a strong following in Europe, and Ireland, so much so that in 1963 he recorded an album called Irish Songs Country Style, which includes the beautiful song Wild Irish Rose. Also he has a fanclub situated in Langeli, Norway.
In 2006, he appeared on the PBS special, Country Pop Legends in which he performed “Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On”, and “Please Help Me I’m Falling”. Until his passing in 2009, he was the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry at the age of 91. Not long before his death he released his 65th album, By the Grace of God, a collection of gospel songs.
He died on March 8, 2009 of natural causes.
