Tom T. Hall, the Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter who died last August at 85, took his own life at his home in Franklin, Tennessee, the Williamson County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed to Rolling Stone on Wednesday.
When reached on the phone by Rolling Stone, a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner’s office said the “manner of death was ruled a suicide.” According to the medical report obtained by the country music blog Saving Country Music, which first reported the story, a 911 call was placed at 11:15 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 20, and “paramedics confirmed death at approximately 1133 hours, due to obvious injuries.”
Born Thomas T. Hall on May 25th, 1936, in Olive Hill, Kentucky, Hall established an indelible legacy in country music with his detail-rich lyricism and plainspoken delivery. While his most well-known song was “Harper Valley PTA,” which Jeannie C. Riley turned into a CMA award-winning crossover hit in 1968, he was also regarded for story-songs like “Homecoming,” “The Year That Clayton Delaney Died,” and “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” along with the humorous sing-along “I Like Beer.” In 1996, Alan Jackson had a Number One hit with the Hall composition “Little Bitty.”
Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Bernstein