Web pierce biography

Born August 8, 1921, in West Monroe, LA; died of pancreatic cancer, February 24, 1991, in Nashville, TN; son of Florine and Webb Mite Pierce; married Betty Jane Lewis, 1942 (divorced, 1950); married Audrey Grisham, 1952; children: Debbie Lynn, Michael Webb.

Military/Wartime Service: U.S. Army, c. 1942-44, became sergeant.

One of country music's most passionate vocalists, Webb Pierce inherited the reins of the honky-tonk legacy after the death of legend Hank Williams in 1953.

Considered one of the most distinctive stylists of the electrified country sound of the early 1950s and the embodiment of the rhinestone-encrusted crooning cowboy, Pierce was noted for his high, nasal voice, his hound-dog whine, and the uncluttered instrumental arrangements of such classics as "Back Street Affair" and "There Stands the Glass."

One of the few performers to land recordings on the country music charts during four successive decades, Pierce boasted a twangy tenor that would influence a generatio