NEWPORT, Ark. (AP) Arkansas native Albert “Sonny” Burgess, who was an early pioneer of what became known as rockabilly music, has died at age 88.
Dillinger Funeral Home in Newport, Arkansas, says Burgess, of Newport, died Friday in Little Rock at age 88. A cause of death was not released.
Burgess was among a group of singers in the mid-1950s who mixed rhythm and blues with country and western music into a sound that became known as rockabilly and included Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. The genre developed into rock-and-roll.
Burgess eventually signed with Sun Records in Memphis, where Presley, Cash, Lewis and were among the artists under contract.
Burgess is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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