Ernest Tubb, the country singer credited with pioneering the honky-tonk genre, died on 6 September 1984 from emphysema at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, aged 70. Known as the "Gold Chain Troubadour", Tubb transformed country music with his 1941 hit "Walking the Floor Over You" and went on to mentor and champion numerous future stars during a career spanning nearly four decades.

Born in 1914 on a Texas cotton farm, Tubb began as a Jimmie Rodgers imitator before developing his own sound after a 1939 tonsillectomy ended his yodelling. "Walking the Floor Over You" sold more than a million copies, launching him into films, a 39-year run at the Grand Ole Opry from 1943, and hits such as "Soldier's Last Letter" and "Rainbow at Midnight" with his band the Texas Troubadours. He also opened Nashville's first major all-country record shop in 1947, helped launch the Midnight Jamboree radio programme, and supported the careers of artists including Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn before retiring shortly before his death.