Joe Ely, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who helped spearhead Texas’ progressive country movement in the 1970s, has died, his representative confirmed to Rolling Stone. Ely died from complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s, and pneumonia at his home in Taos, New Mexico. He was 78.
As is true of the most revered country icons, Ely lived a long and storied life that was ripe with material for songs. Although his music career technically began with the Flatlanders, the country band he formed with fellow Texans Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock in 1972, Ely really found his audience with his self-titled solo debut in 1977; with each passing year, Ely’s natural lyricism and ear for rock hooks helped push a new type of progressive country to the forefront of the Texas community. In the decades that followed, he went on to collaborate with the Clash, Bruce Springsteen, Uncle Tupelo, the Chieftans, and many others.
Born in Amarillo, Texas, on February 9, 1947, Ely and his family relocated to Lubbock where he spent his teenage years attending high school and playing guitar. In his 20s, Ely crossed paths with Gilmore and Hancock and they decided to form a band that would utilize their interests in country, folk, and storytelling. The Flatlanders only released one album, 1973’s All American Music, before disbanding that same year. However, once the three musicians found independent success as solo artists, they regrouped to record a handful of albums together and perform live as a band once again, eventually earning their place in the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame.
When he launched his solo career, Ely settled into country music from an openminded and openhearted place, churning out songs that welcomed everyone into the fold regardless of how familiar they were with the genre. That accessible approach earned him multiple charting albums, with 1981’s Musta Notta Gotta Lotta hitting No. 135 on the Billboard 200 and No. 12 on the Top Country Albums chart. Later on, 1998’s Twistin’ in the Wind reached No. 55, 2003’s Streets of Sin peaked at No. 51, and his 2011 record Satisfied at Last claimed spot No. 46 on the Top Country Albums chart. Yet for all of his beloved originals, one of Ely’s biggest songs was a cover of Robert Early Keen’s “The Road Goes on Forever,” which he tacked onto his 1992 album Love and Danger. His final album, Love and Freedom, came out in February 2025.