Colonel Hugh X. Lewis, In Memoriam, December 25, 1930--December 30, 2020

  

Hubert Bradley Lewis, known professionally as Colonel Hugh X. Lewis, died in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 29, 2020, only 4 days after hie 90th birthday due to Covid 19.  He had been born on Christmas Day 1930, in Yeadis, Kentucky, during the heart of the Great Depression and rose to nationwide fame as a country music singer and songwriter.  He was not touring but was still actively working until he became ill.  He was hosting a weekly radio show on WSGS-FM 101 in Hazard, Kentucky, and was a regular caller to the Faron And Scott Show on that station.  During those telephone calls, he would tell some of his thousands of stories about his life as a star in the world of country music from the 1950's to the time of his death. He had known, worked with, and often written songs for many of the biggest names in country music.  He had been married to his wife, Anna Mae Lewis, for 69 years at the time of his death.  He was always devoted to his wife and family and could accurately be described as a "family man" as you can see in the photo below.  He reputedly began hitchhiking from Southeastern Kentucky to Nashville to try to get a start in the music business shortly after he was married and working as a coal miner.  He was a fascinating man with a wonderful memory right up until his death, loved to meet and come to know people, no matter who they were, and could literally talk about any subject.  He will be greatly missed and long remembered both by those who knew and worked with him and by thousands who knew him only as a wonderful story teller on WSGS. 

 

 I have been a regular listener to WSGS-FM 101 in Hazard, KY, for more than 60 years and in the last few years one of the best aspects of that station, which I consider to be the best radio station around, was the fact that about once a week The Colonel would call in to the Faron And Scott Show and talk at length about his long career in country music, the stars and common people he knew, the places he played, the songs and poetry he wrote, and the long happy, productive life he had led. I'm sorry I never got to know him personally. It is a real tragedy that he died at a time when he was still being productive and from a pandemic which never had to happen if the federal government had done its job in early 2020. Hugh X. Lewis has now joined Charley Pride, Joe Diffy, and John Prine on the list of innocent victims of this American tragedy. Somewhere, that is a pretty damn good band!