George Jones is remembered not only as one of the greatest voices in country music but also as a man whose life teetered on the edge of destruction for decades. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Jones’s alcohol and drug addiction nearly erased his legacy, earning him the infamous nickname “No Show Jones” due to his constant absences from concerts.
Yet, it was in those darkest hours that his legend grew.
Perhaps the most bizarre and iconic tale is the one involving a lawn mower. As the story goes, his wife at the time, country star Tammy Wynette, had taken away all his car keys to prevent him from driving drunk. But Jones, determined as ever, climbed aboard his riding lawn mower and drove 5 miles down the highway in the middle of the night just to get to a liquor store.
This image – a frail country legend cruising down a desolate highway on a lawn mower – is both tragic and oddly poetic. And yes, it’s 100% true.
Jones’s alcohol-fueled escapades didn’t stop there. He once stumbled on stage so intoxicated he couldn’t perform, and on another occasion, he reportedly threatened his wife with a gun. His dependency on alcohol and pills pushed him to the edge of madness – yet it also gave his voice a raw, aching quality that couldn’t be replicated.
As he once confessed: “I didn’t live. I just existed. I was a ghost… a shell with the name George Jones.”
And ironically, the lower he sank, the more powerful his voice became. His most iconic recording, “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” was made during a time when his personal life was in complete shambles. Still, it became the most revered country song of the century.
George Jones is proof that some artists bleed truth through their songs. The lawn mower was more than a quirky tale – it was a symbol of a man desperately chasing the remnants of himself.