Grand Ole Opry Legend Little Jimmy Dickens Getting Radiation Treatment

One of the last true legends of the Grand Ole Opry is undergoing radiation treatments this summer.

Little Jimmy Dickens, the 92-year-old Grand Ole Opry star, will miss shows for at least several weeks.  Listeners to the longest-running radio show in America will know much of 2013 found the star missing from standing center stage each weekend when the big curtain lifted. Dickens has been a fixture on the Opry since he became a member in 1948.

Dickens is undergoing radiation treatments for three weeks for a pre-cancerous condition on his vocal chords. But with true pluck and energy the legend was looking forward to again performing.  “I can’t wait to return home to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in one of my favorite rhinestone suits someday soon.”

And there will be many applauding that return.

Fans wishing to express their well wishes to Dickens can send cards and letters to the following address.

Jimmy Dickens c/o Grand Ole Opry House 2804 Opryland Drive Nashville, TN 37214

CP wishes the very best for this amazing personality, and one of the best friends country music has ever had.

It’s Amusing….

…how just the mention of ‘Little’ Jimmy Dickens on the Country Music Association Awards Show makes folks google his name.  The hits on this blog, where LJD is much-respected, made a post about him zoom to number one for the day.  This all happened in one hour of the show’s ending.

That makes me smile.  I love it when a little blog like mine can help further the Grand Ole Opry and all that it stands for!

The reason for the interest in LJD was the comments made by Brad Paisley who was  named entertainer of the year on Wednesday night at the awards show.

“My hero, Little Jimmy Dickens, has a saying,” Paisley said, “and that’s if you see a turtle on a fencepost, it had help getting up there. And I feel just like a turtle on a fencepost at this point.

“First of all, I want to talk to the fans. It sounds like a cliche when you say thanks to the fans, but the great thing about country fans is when you say, ‘fans,’ I don’t even mean mine. You guys are loyal to everyone in this room. It’s the most amazing loyal fanbase in the world.

“My grandfather, tonight, for me, is about him. This is a man who loved Buck Owens, and he loved Johnny Cash and these people, and he said ‘I want you to learn to play the guitar, because this is gonna get you through lonely times, and you’ll never be alone with this.’ I don’t ever think he thought that it would draw 20,000 people. But I think about him tonight.”