George Jones

While the nation continues to mourn Michael Jackson, J.D. Salinger, and Sky Saxon, many of us are still mourning the death of one of the greatest country singers of all time, Vern Gosdin.  Known as the voice of country music, Gosdin died from a stroke on April 28, 2009. His was a pained and tortured voice singing some of the saddest songs in the world, and when he died, we truly lost one of the voices of the ages.

Forget the current crop of Nashville pop crooners.  Gosdin was a man who had the wrinkles of Merle Haggard and, like George Jones, knew what it meant to weep.  With his album, Chiseled In Stone, Gosdin created a country music masterpiece.  It's virtually impossible to get through the thing without having an emotional breakdown.