<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n[EPN NPinow reporter Go Nari] Don Schlitz, the iconic country songwriter, died on the 16th (local time) in Nashville after a sudden decline in health. He was 73.<\/p>\n
His death was reported by Page Six on the 19th. Family members and industry representatives have not released an exact cause.<\/p>\n
Sara Trahern, chief executive of the Country Music Association, said in a statement, \u201cDon Schlitz\u2019s passing is a great sadness. He loved his family, his hometown and his music. We will always remember his warm smile and the sight of him with a guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyle Young, president of the Country Music Hall of Fame, added, \u201cEven a single song like \u2018The Gambler\u2019 would have secured his place among the greats. His loss leaves a large void in Nashville\u2019s music community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schlitz reshaped country music through his collaborations with artists including Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and The Judds. He was the songwriter behind enduring hits such as \u201cThe Gambler,\u201d \u201cOn the Other Hand,\u201d \u201cForever and Ever, Amen,\u201d and \u201cWhen You Say Nothing at All.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Durham, North Carolina, in 1952, Schlitz later moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
From 1988 through 1991 he was ASCAP\u2019s Country Songwriter of the Year for four consecutive years, and he held the uncommon honor of appearing on the Grand Ole Opry stage despite not being a regular touring artist.<\/p>\n
His work continues to influence artists across generations.<\/p>\n
Photo: Don Schlitz channel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iconic country music songwriter Don Schlitz passed away on June 16 in Nashville at 73, leaving a legacy of love for family and music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/cdn-union.tenbizt.com\/contents\/crawler-dev\/thumbnail\/2026\/04\/CP-2024-0004\/thumb-a95effb1-4815-4588-84ea-a30519c5a564.jpg","footnotes":""},"categories":[278101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"yoast_head":"\n
Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Iconic country music songwriter Don Schlitz passed away on June 16 in Nashville at 73, leaving a legacy of love for family and music.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ko_KR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Iconic country music songwriter Don Schlitz passed away on June 16 in Nashville at 73, leaving a legacy of love for family and music.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"nonhyeon-ilbo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-25T15:10:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mvp-home-featured-image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\uac1c\ubc1c\uae30\ud68d\ud300\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\uac1c\ubc1c\uae30\ud68d\ud300\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b2265094fd34d8bb5cfbaf6040fa17d3\"},\"headline\":\"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-25T15:10:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/\"},\"wordCount\":272,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Music\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ko-KR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/\",\"name\":\"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-25T15:10:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Iconic country music songwriter Don Schlitz passed away on June 16 in Nashville at 73, leaving a legacy of love for family and music.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ko-KR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\ud648\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Music\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/category\/music\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"nonhyeon-ilbo\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"nonhyeon-ilbo\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ko-KR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"nonhyeon-ilbo\",\"alternateName\":\"nonhyeon-ilbo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ko-KR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.tenbizt.com\/tenbizt\/2026\/02\/05114330\/mvp-org-logo-696x696-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.tenbizt.com\/tenbizt\/2026\/02\/05114330\/mvp-org-logo-696x696-1.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"nonhyeon-ilbo\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b2265094fd34d8bb5cfbaf6040fa17d3\",\"name\":\"\uac1c\ubc1c\uae30\ud68d\ud300\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/author\/fastmaster\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy","description":"Iconic country music songwriter Don Schlitz passed away on June 16 in Nashville at 73, leaving a legacy of love for family and music.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/","og_locale":"ko_KR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy","og_description":"Iconic country music songwriter Don Schlitz passed away on June 16 in Nashville at 73, leaving a legacy of love for family and music.","og_url":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/","og_site_name":"nonhyeon-ilbo","article_published_time":"2026-04-25T15:10:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mvp-home-featured-image.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"\uac1c\ubc1c\uae30\ud68d\ud300","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/"},"author":{"name":"\uac1c\ubc1c\uae30\ud68d\ud300","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b2265094fd34d8bb5cfbaf6040fa17d3"},"headline":"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy","datePublished":"2026-04-25T15:10:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/"},"wordCount":272,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Music"],"inLanguage":"ko-KR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/","url":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/","name":"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-25T15:10:12+00:00","description":"Iconic country music songwriter Don Schlitz passed away on June 16 in Nashville at 73, leaving a legacy of love for family and music.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ko-KR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/music\/2026\/04\/26\/country-music-legend-don-schlitz-passes-away-a-look-at-his-iconic-hits-and-legacy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\ud648","item":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Music","item":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/category\/music\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Country Music Legend Don Schlitz Passes Away: A Look at His Iconic Hits and Legacy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/","name":"nonhyeon-ilbo","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"nonhyeon-ilbo","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ko-KR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#organization","name":"nonhyeon-ilbo","alternateName":"nonhyeon-ilbo","url":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ko-KR","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn.tenbizt.com\/tenbizt\/2026\/02\/05114330\/mvp-org-logo-696x696-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.tenbizt.com\/tenbizt\/2026\/02\/05114330\/mvp-org-logo-696x696-1.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"nonhyeon-ilbo"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b2265094fd34d8bb5cfbaf6040fa17d3","name":"\uac1c\ubc1c\uae30\ud68d\ud300","url":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/author\/fastmaster\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258484\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}