Country's LeDoux Dies

Country singer-songwriter and former rodeo champion Chris LeDoux died yesterday in a Casper, Wyoming, hospital after a lengthy battle with liver cancer. He was fifty-six years old.

Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, LeDoux became a staple on the rodeo circuit throughout the Seventies before retiring in 1980. During that time, he began writing cowboy songs and released twenty-two albums by 1989 through his own Lucky Man Records.

That same year, LeDoux received due recognition when titanic country veteran Garth Brooks sang of "a worn-out tape of Chris LeDoux" on the hit "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)." One year later, he signed with Capitol, and in 1992 he teamed with Brooks on the Grammy-nominated "Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy," one of twenty-five singles LeDoux charted on Billboard's country chart.

In 2000, the multi-million seller successfully underwent a liver transplant, but was diagnosed with liver cancer last year.

LeDoux is survived by his wife Peggy and their five children.