FILE - Artist Billy Joe Shaver poses backstage following his concert "Billy Joe Shaver presented by WMOT/Roots Radio" at City Winery Nashville in Nashville, Tenn. on April 1, 2017.
(Photo by Laura Roberts/Invision/AP, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. ā Outlaw country singer songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, who wrote songs like āHonky Tonk Heroes,ā āI Been to Georgia on a Fast Trainā and āOld Five and Dimers Like Me,ā has died He was 81.
His big break came when Jennings recorded several of Shaver's songs for his 1973 album āHonky Tonk Heroes," which helped popularize the outlaw country genre and turn the maverick country artists into legends.
"There werenāt another other way to be/For lovable losers, no account boozers/And honky tonk heroes like me," Shaver wrote in the title track.
Shaver wrote songs that were covered by Elvis Presley, Patty Loveless, George Jones, Tex Ritter, Tennessee Ernie Ford and John Anderson.