Country musician Jerry Jeff Walker, known for song ‘Mr. Bojangles,’ dead at 78

Prolific songwriter and country musician Jerry Jeff Walker, known for his song, “Mr. Bojangles,” died Friday. He was 78.

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His cause of death has not been released, CNYNews.com reported. Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017 but was able to recover and record his final album in 2018, “It’s About Time,” Saving Country Music reported.

Walker is best known for the 1968 song “Mr. Bojangles” released on the album of the same name. The song, about a talented, New Orleans street dancer with alcoholism who is jailed, has been widely covered with popular interpretations by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Bob Dylan and Sammy Davis Jr.

In the 1970s, Walker moved to Austin, Texas, and was a seminal member of the outlaw country movement, which included Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson. He walked away from mainstream labels and formed his own record company Tried & True Artists in 1986.

Walker is survived by his wife, Susan, daughter, Jessie Jane, and son, Django, CNYNews.com reported.

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