Ferlin Husky RIP

FERLIN HUSKY, the first major country star to come out of the Bakersfield scene whose 1956 hit “Gone” became the first country single of the Nashville Sound era to cross over to the pop Top 10, died on Thursday at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn. He was 85. Husky had been hospitalized for various health problems in recent years. From 1953 to 1975, he had 41 Top 40 country hits, including “Wings of a Dove,” which spent 10 weeks at #1 in 1960 and reached the pop Top 20. Husky is survived by six daughters, two sons, longtime companion Leona Williams and 11 grandchildren. A son, Danny, died in 1970. More in Bill Friskics-Warren’s N.Y. Times obit. (3/18a)