The Resume

(March 6, 1905-May 13, 1975)
Born in Kosse, Texas
Birth name was James Robert Wills
Western swing fiddler, songwriter and bandleader
Led the Texas Playboys
Recorded the singles 'Spanish Two Step' (1935), 'Steel Guitar Rag' (1936), 'San Antonio Rose' (1938), 'Take Me Back to Tulsa' (1941), 'Cherokee Maiden' (1941), 'New San Antonio Rose' (1944), 'Smoke on the Water' (1945), 'Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima' (1945), 'Texas Playboy Rag' (1945), 'Silver Dew on the Blue Grass Tonight' (1945), 'White Cross on Okinawa' (1946), 'New Spanish Two Step' (1946), 'Roly Poly' (1946), 'Stay A Little Longer' (1946), 'Sugar Moon' (1947), 'Bob Wills Boogie' (1947), 'Bubbles in My Beer' (1948), 'Thorn in My Heart' (1948), 'Ida Red Likes the Boogie' (1950), 'Faded Love' (1950) and 'Heart to Heart Talk' (1960)
Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1968)
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence (1999)

Why he might be annoying:

He performed in blackface in minstrel shows.
He was let go from the band the Light Crust Doughboys for missing too many shows due to binge drinking.
He was married six times, including two separate marriages (and divorces) with Mary Louise Parker and a three month marriage with Ruth McMaster.
He got into trouble with the IRS and sold off his song rights to raise the money to pay his back taxes.
He sold his Dallas nightclub to Jack Ruby.

Why he might not be annoying:

He rode 50 miles on horseback to see Bessie Smith in concert.
He was the first performer to defy the Grand Ole Opry's ban on drums (1944).
At his peak in the 40s, his Texas Playboys were a bigger concert draw than the big bands of Benny Goodman and Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey.
He inspired the Waylon Jennings song 'Bob Wills Is Still The King' and the Merle Haggard album 'A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World.'
Haggard organized a reunion of the Texas Playboys (1973), but Wills suffered a stroke after the first recording session and lingered in a coma until his death 18 months later.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• ACM Pioneer Award (Ranked: 1969)
• Appeared in Black Face
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 43]
• CMT's 100 Greatest Songs (Ranked: 98)
• CMT's 18 Greatest Country Songs (Ranked: 7)
• CMT's 40 Greatest Men in Country Music [2003] (Ranked: 27)
• CMT's Greatest Patriotic Songs
• Country Music Hall of Fame (Ranked: 1968)
• Country Music Stars
• Fiddlers
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (Ranked: 2007)
• Hairdressers and Barbers
• I am a Texan
• I am on a U.S. Postage Stamp [U-Z]
• I Died in 1975 (Ranked: 70)
• I Had a Stroke [Cerebral Vascular Accident]
• I Married at Least Five Times [I Do! I Do! I Do! I Do! I Do!]
• I Married for Less than Two Years
• I Remarried the Same Person [I Do! I Don't! I Changed My Mind!]
• I Sing About Roses
• I'm Remembered in a Tribute Song
• Known By a Middle Name
• Look at Me, I Got a Microphone
• Look at Me, I'm Wearing a Cowboy Hat
• Look at Me, I've Been Caught Smoking
• My Song was Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Ranked: 2015)
• My Song was Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Ranked: 1998)
• Our Marriage Didn't Make It To Our First Anniversary
• Profiles 33251-33500 (Ranked: 33288)
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Members (Ranked: 1999)
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19750513)
• We Got Married on New Year's Day [January 1st] (Ranked: 1938)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 19 Votes: 15.79% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 31.25% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 18 Votes: 38.89% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 9 Votes: 11.11% Annoying