Johnny Paycheck

JOHNNY PAYCHECK d2003. American country singer, multi-instrumentalist and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greatest success in the 1970s as a major force in country music's "Outlaw Movement". In 1981 he appeared on the television show The Dukes of Hazzard as himself, the scene had him playing "Take This Job and Shove It" and arguing with Bss Hogg when the sheriff tried to give him a citation over the content of the song. In December 1985, Paycheck was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail for shooting a man at the North High Lounge in Ohio after he fired a .22 pistol, the bullet grazing a man's head. He claimed the act was self-defense, but after several years spent fighting the sentence, he began serving his sentence in 1989 spending 22 months in prison before being pardoned. “I heard from fans constantly throughout the entire two years.The letters never stopped, from throughout the world. I looked forward to mail call every day.” The most successful of his later singles (released during his appeal) was "Old Violin" which reached No21 on the country chart in 1986. His last album to chart was "Modern Times" in 1987. He continued to release albums, the last of which (Remembering) appeared in 2002. In 1990, he filed for bankruptcy after tax problems with the IRS. Although he was addicted to drugs and alcohol during his career, he later was said to have "put his life in order" after his prison stay. He continued to perform and tour until the late 1990s. After the year 2000 his health would only allow for short appearances. He died at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2003. His burial plot was donated by music legend George Jones and his funeral and burial expenses were paid by former manager Glenn Ferguson.