Don Williams Facts: Country Music's 'Gentle Giant' Dead At 78

Country music star Don Williams, who enjoyed great success with his low-key style of singing country music and creating his own musical identity in the 1970s that earned him the nickname "The Gentle Giant" died Friday at the age of 78 years, after a short illness, his publicist confirmed.

Williams, who was said to be an internationally popular country star, recorded dozens of hit songs, including "Tulsa Time," "Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good" and "It Must Be Love."

In 1971, Williams began his solo career and was said to have amassed 17 top of the charts country hits during his time in the industry.

Williams' famous songs such as "Gypsy Woman" and "Tulsa Time" were also covered by many other singers including Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend.

Williams' other hits included "You're My Best Friend," "I Believe in You and Lord," "I Hope This Day Is Good." He was a contemporary of country radio in the 1970s and 80s. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, BBC News reported.

"In giving voice to songs like 'Good Ole Boys Like Me,' 'Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good' and 'Amanda,' Don Williams offered calm, beauty, and a sense of wistful peace that is in short supply these days," Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young said in a statement Friday.

"His music will forever be a balm in troublesome times. Everyone who makes country music with grace, intelligence, and ageless intent will do so while standing on the shoulders of this gentle giant," Young added according to Rolling Stone magazine.

Williams was born in Floydada, Texas on May 27, 1939, and was raised in Portland, where he learned to play the guitar from his mother. He initially started performing in a duo called "Strangers Two" with singer Lofton Kline in Corpus Christi and then later they formed the folk-pop trio "Pozo-Seco Singers" with Susan Taylor.

The trio was based in Nashville and they earned two Top 40 tunes, "I Can Make It With You" and "Look What You've Done," in late 1966 after which Williams embarked on starting a solo career in the early 1970s. Before his solo career, he was a songwriter for Cowboy Jack Clement's Jack Music in Nashville.

"Don and I were both working at Jack Music before our careers took off," songwriter Bob McDill had said of Williams, according to a USA Today report. "One night, when the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was in town, Don said, ‘Let’s go backstage and play them some songs.'"

Williams won the Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year Award in 1978. In the same year, he won the Academy of Country Music's Single Record of the Year trophy for "Tulsa Time."

The announcement of Williams' death was greeted on social media with tributes from famous artists and fans like Charlie Daniels, Travis Tritt, Ricky Scaggs and much more.

In May 2017, Williams became the subject of a tribute album, "Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams." Garth Fundis, who was said to have produced many of Williams’ biggest hits, was in charge of this project and at the time of the release, Fundis praised his longtime friend's ability to pick wonderful songs.

"He never let himself stray from what he felt about music. I think that’s where the consistency comes from. It had to work for him in a simple way. Sometimes, we do orchestrations and get a lot of instruments going, but it was usually pretty simple. He always was the rudder that kept the bowel pointed in the right direction, to use a sailing term. It was wonderful how he could always take different kinds of songs, and by the time he was done with them, they all kind of fit together in a really wonderful way," Fundis said in May, according to Billboard.