Hubert Bradley "Hugh X." Lewis (December 25, 1930 – December 29, 2020) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer-songwriter. Born in Yeaddiss, Kentucky, he recorded for various labels since 1964, and charted fifteen singles on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts. Lewis's debut single, "What I Need Most", peaked at number 21 on this chart. Lewis also wrote eleven songs for

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...

including the number one single "

B.J. the D.J. "B.J. the D.J." is a song written by Hugh X. Lewis, and made famous by country music star Stonewall Jackson. Released in November 1963, "B.J. the D.J." was Jackson's second and final No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart in Feb ...

Biography

Hubert Brad Lewis was born in Yeaddiss, Kentucky. He worked at a

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...

in Kentucky and moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, in 1963 and first had success as a songwriter, writing "

" for

;

Mac Wiseman Malcolm Bell Wiseman (May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass and country singer. Early life He was born on May 23, 1925, in Crimora, Virginia. He attended school in New Hope, Virginia, and graduated from high school the ...

and George Morgan also covered Lewis's songs. In 1964, Lewis released his first single for

Kapp Records Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to L ...

, "What I Need Most". The song peaked at number 21 on the U.S. country singles charts. Lewis released ten more singles for Kapp, including the top 40 hits "Out Where the Ocean Meets the Sky", "I'd Better Call the Law on Me", "You're So Cold (I'm Turning Blue)" and "Evolution and the Bible". He also had a Top 20 hit in Canada with "All Heaven Broke Loose". Lewis opened a club in

Printer's Alley Printer's Alley is a famous alley in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., between Third and Fourth Avenues, running from Union Street to Commerce Street. The portion of the alley between Union and Church Street is the home of a nightclub district ...

in 1972, where he hosted a television show also titled ''Hugh X. Lewis Country Club'' It was sponsored by Heil Quaker Corporation and appeared in 91 major markets. Lewis died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 29, 2020, four days after his 90th birthday.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Hugh X. 1930 births 2020 deaths American country singers American country songwriters People from Leslie County, Kentucky Country musicians from Kentucky Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee