"Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" is a song written by

Troy Seals Troy Harold Seals (born November 16, 1938, in Bighill, Madison County, Kentucky, United States) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is a member of the prominent Seals family of musicians that includes Jim Seals (of Seals and C ...

and

Max D. Barnes Max Duane Barnes (July 24, 1935 – January 11, 2004) was an American country singer and songwriter born in Hard Scratch, Iowa, United States. In 1973, Barnes moved with his family from Omaha, Nebraska to Nashville, Tennessee, where he di ...

and recorded by 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

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

. It was released in June 1985 as the first single and title track from the album ''

Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes ''Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes'' is the 45th studio album by American country music artist George Jones, released in 1985 on the Epic Records label. The album is best known for the title track and its classic video, which would go on to win the ...

''. The song peaked at number three on the

Hot Country Singles 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 ...

chart.

Background

Jones sings of the irreplacibility of country music legends including

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

Charlie Rich Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. His eclectic style of music was often difficult to classify, encompassing the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country music, country, sou ...

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and suc ...

, and

Lefty Frizzell William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country music singer-songwriter and honky-tonk singer. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. Frizzell released many songs that charted ...

. After remarking about these singers' impacts on country music, he wonders who will replace them when they're gone - hence, the title line - and thus become legends in their own right. In the 1994 video retrospective ''Golden Hits'' Jones recalled: :"

wrote that...He saved the day for us...Songwriters were bringin' things in and we were listening to songs and tapes, and Troy came in and told Billy herrill, Jones' producerand me that he had this idea, and he sung a little bit of the chorus...He came back about ten o'clock or eleven the next morning before we went in to do our session at two o'clock, he had it all finished and it just knocked us out." A promotional video for the song was aired on

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

(TNN),

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

(CMT) and

Great American Country Great American Family is an American cable television network. Owned by Great American Media, it broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. It was originally established in ...

(GAC). Directed by Marc Ball, it also features Billy Sherrill in a cameo as the bus driver and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

executive

Rick Blackburn Richard "Rick" Blackburn (16 November, 1942 – 30 November, 2012) was a Nashville music executive. He was a president of Atlantic Records in Nashville and shared his skill with Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label ...

driving the

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

at the end of the video. It takes place at a roadside gas station, where the owner shares with Jones his extensive collection of albums and memorabilia from classic country music artists. At the end of the video, as Jones' tour bus pulls away, a convertible pulls into the station; its passenger is a young man with a guitar, looking in awe at the large tour bus. The video - the singer's first - won Music Video of the Year at the 1986

CMA Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

, beating out videos by the

Judds The Judds were an American country music duo composed of lead vocalist Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd. The duo signed to RCA Nashville in 1983 and released six studio albums between then and 1991. The Judds were one of the most success ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

, and

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and film director. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album '' Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerab ...

. However, with a new crop of country stars emerging, the song had an unfortunate connotation, with Andrew Mueller noting in Jones' ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' obituary, "As it turned out, the song wasn't brilliantly timed. A few of its protagonists still had decades left in them, as did Jones himself..."

Critical reception

Eugene Chadbourne of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

describes the song as "the kind of mystical, self-serving necrophilia that country music is all about". Jones biographer Bob Allen states, "It struck a strong enough chord of empathy with old-time country music lovers to end up number three in ''Billboard''."

Chart performance

References

1985 singles George Jones songs Songs written by Max D. Barnes Songs written by Troy Seals Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Epic Records singles 1985 songs Songs about country music Songs about Hank Williams {{1985-country-song-stub