Rick Diamond/Getty Images for City WineryVeteran singer/songwriter Tony Joe White, who scored a 1969 hit with “Polk Salad Annie” and who wrote Brook Benton‘s classic 1970 R&B ballad “Rainy Night in Georgia,” died Wednesday, October 24, at the age of 75, The Tennessean reports.
White’s family told the newspaper that he died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in the Nashville suburb of Lieper’s Fork, Tennessee.
White grew up on a Louisiana cotton farm, the youngest of seven children. “Polk Salad Annie” appeared on his 1969 debut album, Black and White, and the song reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Elvis Presley became a fan of the tune, and he would perform it regularly at his concerts.
In 1970, Benton recorded “Rainy Night in Georgia,” and it became a comeback hit for the veteran R&B singer, peaking at #4 on the Hot 100.
A wide variety of other artists also covered White’s songs, including Ray Charles, Dusty Springfield and Tina Turner, the latter of whom had a top 40 hit in 1989 with “Steamy Windows.”
White continued to release his own solo albums consistently throughout the years, with his most recent studio effort, Bad Mouthin’, coming out on September 28 of this year. That same night, he performed for the first time at the Grand Ole Opry.
White’s son Jody told The Tennessean that his father recorded several new songs not long before his death, which he hopes will eventually be released.
Tony is survived by his wife, Leann, Jody and two other children — daughter Michelle and son Jim Bob — and several grandchildren.
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