Jake Brennan

Billy knew it would be a number one hit.

George, however, felt differently.

As soon as he finished singing, he heard the voice of the old man return.

No one wants to hear another sad George Jones song.

It hurt, but George knew the old man was right.

He looked at Billy and said his piece.

Ain't nobody gonna buy that morbid son of a bitch.

And then he walked out the door.

It turned out George could not have been more wrong.

When He Stopped Loving Her Today came out on April 14th, there was a huge response right out of the gate.

Radio DJs and critics were thrilled to hear something approaching the George Jones of old.

Fans rushed out to buy the record.

Just as Billy Shirell predicted, the song went to number one on the country chart in July of 1980.

George won a Grammy for Best Country Male Vocal for He Stopped Loving Her Today.

and that song was named the Academy of Country Music Song of the Year not once but twice in both 1980 and in 1981.

Over the next two years, George's comeback continued.

He was nowhere near as low as the days when he was living in a car and screaming at the voices in his head, but his demons still found ways to whisper into his ear.

There was a drunken award show performance in 1981 and an embarrassing DUI stop that ended up on the local news in 1982.

Fortunately for George Jones, however, that year he also began dating Nancy Savolato, the woman who would become his fourth and final wife.

Through her love and dedication, she managed to slowly put George back towards the land of the living.