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.
Shaver, who penned songs for Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Bobby Bare, has died.
(Photo by Laura Roberts/Invision/AP, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Outlaw country singer songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, who wrote songs like “Honky Tonk Heroes,” “I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train” and “Old Five and Dimers Like Me,” has died He was 81.
His big break came when Jennings recorded several of Shaver's songs for his 1973 album “Honky Tonk Heroes," which helped popularize the outlaw country genre.
Shaver wrote songs that were covered by Elvis Presley, Patty Loveless, George Jones, Tex Ritter, Tennessee Ernie Ford and John Anderson.