Country music legend Tom T. Hall dead at 85

Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall has died at the age of 85, the Country Music Association announced.

Famous for his hits "Harper Valley PTA" and "I Love," the Grammy-winning artist died Friday. The cause was not disclosed.

"Few could tell a story like Tom T. Hall. As a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist, he was one of those triple threat artists who continued to make an impact on the next generation. I'll always remember growing up listening to Tom T.'s music with my father, who was a huge bluegrass and country fan,"  Sarah Trahern, the association's chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Hall, who had the nickname The Storyteller, was a seven-time CMA Awards nominee whose songs earned him election to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. 

Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Among his hits were "A Week in a Country Jail," "(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine," "Country Is," "The Year Clayton Delaney Died," "I Like Beer," "Faster Horses (the Cowboy and the Poet)", and "That Song Is Driving Me Crazy."

He also was the spokesman for Chevrolet trucks in the 1970s; hosted the TV show, Pop! Goes the Country 1980-82; and penned numerous books about music.