03.09.05
(AP)
CHRIS LEDOUX, a former world champion bareback rider who parlayed songs about the rodeo life into a successful country music career, died Wednesday in Cheyenne, Wyoming of complications from liver cancer. He was 56. LeDoux had checked into the hospital this week and was with family and friends at the time of his death Wednesday in Casper, according to
Judy McDonough, spokeswoman for
Capitol Nashville, his recording company. In November, LeDoux canceled several tour dates while undergoing treatment for cancer of the bile duct. He had undergone a liver transplant in 2000 after a lengthy illness. LeDoux described his music as a combination of "Western soul, sagebrush blues, cowboy folk and rodeo rock 'n' roll." By 1989, CHRIS LEDOUX had released 22 albums, mostly cassettes produced by his parents which he sold at concerts, rodeos, and even sometimes out of the back of a pickup truck. He had a loyal, if limited, fan base. But that all changed that year when then-rising Country star
Garth Brooks had a hit with the song, 'Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),' which included the line: "A worn-out tape of Chris LeDoux, lonely women and bad booze/seem to be the only friends I've left at all." The song came at a time when LeDoux's career was sputtering with an independent label and no marketing. "And here he comes along and mentions the worn-out tapes in his song," LeDoux said of Brooks in an interview with
The Associated Press in 2001. "To me, Garth, he's kind of like my guardian angel. It's like every time I need some help, he's there." CHRIS LEDOUX soon became a star himself, teaming up with Brooks for the top 10 hit, 'Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy,' in 1992. In 1976, he became the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's world bareback champion. In 2003, he released his 36th album, "
Horsepower," and celebrated career sales of more than 5 million albums. "Gen-u-ine. He was the real thing," recalled Bruce Ford, a five-time world champion bareback rider who traveled with LeDoux to rodeos. "There was nothin' phony about Chris. He was a great guy."
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