Country music has lot some absolute legends early in 2026.
Those lost might not have been household names, but in almost every instance their work had an impact on country music that was felt by every fan of the genre.
The following is a look at the iconic names country music has lost this year:
Don Adams
Country music has lost another beloved performer.
Don Adams, a singer, songwriter and longtime band member for Johnny Paycheck and George Jones, died on Sunday, Feb. 1, according to Saving Country Music.
He was 85.
The site said that Adams had been battling cancer “off and on” for a couple of years.
Parade Magazine wrote that while Adams was never a “marquee headliner, his voice, musicianship and presence placed him squarely inside the outlaw country ecosystem of the 1960s and 1970s.”
Adams was born in Greenfield, Ohio, and he came from a family full of musicians.
His father, Frank Adams, was a radio and recording star all the way back in the 1930s, and Don and his brothers, Gary and Arnie, made up The Adams Brothers. As a group, they backed up artists such as Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins and Tamy Wynette as well as Paycheck.
However, it was their gig as The Jones Boys, backing up the legendary George Jones, that they were most well known for. They were so popular that Jones’ label even released an album entitled “The Jones Boys” which featured them without Jones.