Country singer Jerry Jeff Walker, who wrote Mr. Bojangles, dies aged 78

Legendary country star Jerry Jeff Walker has died aged 78.

The singer songwriter, who wrote late-’60s hit Mr. Bojangles, passed away on Friday, CNY News reported.

He had battled throat cancer three years ago and subsequently wrote the 2018 album It’s About Time.

Born Ronald Clyde Crosby, Walker grew up in a musical family in Oneonta, New York and got his start in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s. 

The singer was inspired to write Mr. Bojangles, one of the most iconic country/ pop songs ever written, after spending time in a drunk tank with a New Orleans street performer. 

It became his signature song and it was covered by many artists throughout the years including Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond.

In the 1970s he shifted to Texas where he married his manager Susan in 1974 and became part of the outlaw country scene.

Jerry had been singing since his teen years in a Oneonta band called The Tones, which embarked on a failed audition for American Bandstand.

He shared in a Live Nation interview that he ‘couldn’t wait to get going’ and escape his sleepy small-town early life.

‘As a friend of mine said, the morning after I graduated was the first morning I ever got up early,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I was ready to get going!’

After a brief stint in the National Guard when he was fresh out of high school he became a traveling musician around the United States.

Eventually he settled into the Greenwich Village music scene of the 1960s and recorded the album Mr. Bojangles with the iconic song of the same name. 

He is survived by Susan and their children – daughter Jessie Jane and son and fellow musician Django Walker.