Ray Price had nothing left to prove. He was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the man behind “Crazy Arms,” “Heartaches by the Number” and “For the Good Times,” a voice that had filled honky-tonks and concert halls for more than sixty years. Yet when he sat down to say goodbye to the people who loved his music, the thing on his mind was whether he had done right by them.
The Message
On Thursday, December 12, 2013, East Texas Medical Center in Tyler released a statement on behalf of Ray Price and his wife, Janie. In it was what Janie called her husband’s final message to his fans:
“I love my fans and have devoted my life to reaching out to them. I appreciate their support all these years, and I hope I haven’t let them down. I am at peace. I love Jesus. I’m going to be just fine. Don’t worry about me. I’ll see you again one day.”
Fans who read it were struck by that one line in the middle. After everything he had given country music, Ray Price was still worried he might have disappointed someone.
His Own Decision
Ray Price had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2011. Janie said he had been fighting it for 25 months. Despite treatment, the cancer had spread to his liver, his intestines and finally his lungs, and he had been in and out of the hospital in Tyler for months.
By December, Ray Price and Janie, his wife of 45 years, decided there would be no more aggressive treatment. Janie wanted everyone to know that the choice was his.
“Ray is alert and aware of his surroundings and making decisions.”
She described a man of strong convictions and great faith in God, and said it was his decision to leave the hospital and spend his final days on his beloved ranch, surrounded by the comfort of his home, family and friends.
It fit something he had said a year earlier, when he first spoke publicly about his illness. He made it clear he had no interest in spending his last days in a nursing home. He even kept his sense of humor about it, joking that a doctor told him every man gets cancer if he lives long enough, and that he did not know why he got it, because he wasn’t old.
Home to Mount Pleasant
That Thursday, Ray Price went home to his ranch outside Mount Pleasant, Texas, about 60 miles north of Tyler, where he received hospice care. Janie invited fans to leave notes on his Facebook page or mail him cards. He had played his last show only seven months earlier, in May 2013.
A Painful Sunday
On Sunday, December 15, a report spread online that Ray Price had died. It began with a Facebook post from his son Cliff, who was not at his father’s bedside and later said he had been given false information. Several major news outlets ran the story before it was corrected.
Janie was at Ray’s side the whole time. She told Rolling Stone that he was still with them, surrounded by loved ones and a pastor at home in Mount Pleasant. Then she said the words that may describe their life together better than anything else:
“It’s been an honor to walk this road with him. It’s a sad day. We are losing a great man.”
His longtime friend, country radio legend Bill Mack, took over posting updates for the family so that fans would hear the truth from someone close to him.
The Final Afternoon
On Monday, December 16, 2013, Bill Mack shared the news Janie had just given him by phone. Ray Price had died at home on his ranch at 4:43 in the afternoon, Central Time. He was 87.
He went exactly the way he had chosen: not in a hospital room, but at home in East Texas, with his wife beside him and the people he loved close by.
Did He Let Them Down?
Ray Price spent his last public words thanking his fans and hoping he had not failed them. The answer came in the flood of messages that followed, from fans who had danced to his shuffle, fallen in love to his ballads and grown old with his voice on the radio.
He told them not to worry, and that he would see them again one day. For a man of faith, that was not a goodbye. It was a promise.
What is your favorite Ray Price song, and what memory does it bring back? Tell us in the comments.