Cowboy Copas

Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Copas was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Biography Copas was born in 1913 in Blue Creek, Ohio, United States. He began performing locally at age 14, and appeared on WLW-AM and WKRC-AM in Cincinnati during the 1930s. In 1940, he moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he performed on WNOX-AM with his band, the Gold Star Rangers.

In 1943, Copas achieved national fame when he replaced Eddy Arnold as a vocalist in the Pee Wee King band, and began performing on the Grand Ole Opry. A stone marker, dedicated on July 6, 1996, marks the location of the crash.

Copas was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, in "Music Row" with Hawkins and other country music stars.

Discography King Records Sings His All-Time Hits (1957) Hymns and Sacred Songs (1959) Tragic Tales of Love and Life (1960) Broken Hearted Melodies (1960) The Country Gentleman of Song (1963) As You Remember (1963) The Legend of Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins No. 2 (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins In Memory (1963) with Hawkshaw Hawkins Tragic Romance (1969)

Starday Records All Time Country Music Great (1960) Inspirational Songs by Cowboy Copas (1961) Songs That Made Him Famous (1961) Mister Country Music (1962) Opry Star Spotlight on Cowboy Copas (1962) Country Music Entertainer No. 1 (1962) Beyond the Sunset (1963) The Unforgettable Cowboy Copas (1963) Star of the Grand Ole Opry (1963) The Late and Great (1964) Cowboy Copas and His Friends (1964) The Legend Lives On (1965) The Cowboy Copas Story (1965) Shake a Hand (1966) Signed Sealed and Delivered (1967) Filipino Baby (1970) 16 Greatest Hits Of Cowboy Copas (1970)

Imperial Records Songs of the Old West 1 (1961)

Hilltop Records Gone But Not Forgotten (1965) with Patsy Cline & Johnny Horton A Satisfied Mind (1966)

Singles Year Single Chart Positions US Country US 1946 "Filipino Baby" 4 — 1948 "Signed Sealed and Delivered" 2 — "Tennessee Waltz" 3 — "Tennessee Moon" 7 — "Breeze" 12 — 1949 "I'm Waltzing with Tears in My Eyes" 12 — "Candy Kisses" 5 — "Hangman's Boogie" 14 — 1951 "The Strange Little Girl" 5 — 1952 "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered" 8 — 1960 "Alabam" 1 63 1961 "Flat Top" 9 — "Sunny Tennessee" 12 —"Signed Sealed and Delivered" (re-recording) 10 — 1963 "Goodbye Kisses" 12 —