Charlie Robison, self-proclaimed 'bad boy of country music,' died Sunday in San Antonio

Texas singer-songwriter Charlie Robison's nine-album run made him one of the most successful Americana artists from Central Texas before he was forced to retire in 2018 after complications from a surgery left him unable to sing for years.

A representative from his family told the Associated Press that Robison died Sunday at a hospital in San Antonio after suffering cardiac arrest and other complications. His wife, Kristen Robison, wrote on Facebook that he died “surrounded by his family and friends.” He was 59.

A sixth generation Texan, Robison and his brother, singer-songwriter Bruce Robison, grew up in Bandera, a Hill Country town that bills itself as “The Cowboy Capital of the World.” Standing a towering 6’4” with broad shoulders and substantial heft, Robison attended and played football at Texas State University in San Marcos.

He began playing music in Austin in the late 1980s, finding his footing in bands like Two Hoots and a Holler. He went on to form his own group, Millionaire Playboys, and released his first solo album “Bandera” in 1996.

His brand of working man’s Americana, with songs about playing football in high school or working a pipeline in La Grange, rapidly made him a hometown hero in Texas honky-tonks and at fraternity parties. His 1998 album “Life of the Party” sold roughly 100,000 copies, mostly in the Lone Star State. Nashville started paying attention and his song “My Hometown” became a staple on CMT.

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He was catapulted into the national spotlight in 1999 when he married Emily Strayer (nee Erwin) of the Chicks (then Dixie Chicks). The two artists had met a year earlier at Gruene Hall. They remained together during the height of the Chicks early years and through the backlash to Natalie Maines’ comments about George W. Bush that led to the band being blacklisted on many country radio stations. They had three children before divorcing in 2008.

Signed to Sony’s Lucky Dog imprint, Robison’s 2001 album “Step Right Up” was his first release to get a big Nashville push. The album was created in a rush of panic-fueled adrenaline. "I wrote four of the songs in one 24-hour period . . . all in one day. Then Bruce and I wrote two others, and then two more the next week, so I wrote eight within two weeks. I felt energetic 'cause I was definitely terrified," Robison told the Statesman in 2001.

His goal was to create an album with “a couple of songs sonically and stylistically that could cross over to country without losing any of the integrity of what I was doing in the first place," he said. The album produced his only top 40 country song, “I Want You Bad.”

Even as he found success, he refused to relinquish his rebel spirit. “About a year ago, someone introduced me as a ‘Texas songwriting legend’ and it kinda took me wrong,” Robison told the Statesman in 2009, after the release of his album “Beautiful Day.”

“I wanted to say, ‘No! I’m the bad boy of country music!” Then he bugged out his eyes and roared. “Look, I’m still crazy!”

Robison released his final album, “The High Life” in 2013.

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In 2018, he announced his permanent retirement from music in a Facebook post that explained complications from a surgery had left him unable to sing.

“I hope I was able to give you a fraction of the happiness you gave me,” he wrote to his fans. “It was a hell of a ride but as they say all good things must end.”

After a five-year break, Robison returned to the stage at the inaugural Two Step Inn festival in Georgetown in April.

On Monday, tributes to Robison flowed in from the musicians he inspired and the honky tonks where boots scooted to his tunes.

“Please raise a beer and spin a Charlie tune on repeat. He would have wanted it that way,” his sister, Robyn Ludwick, wrote on Instagram.

At the height of his career, Robison returned to his hometown of Bandera as a stockman and a landowner.

"When I started doing music, it was like, I'm not gonna come back until I can make the town proud," Robison told the Statesman in 2001. "Which I did. I feel like telling them, I didn't do it in athletics for you all, but I did it in music, so you can be proud of me for that."

With his timeless songs, Robison has created a legacy Bandera can celebrate for generations to come.

Robison is survived by his wife, Kristen Robison, four children and stepchildren, his brother, Bruce Robison, and his sister, Robyn Ludwick. Memorial service plans have not been announced.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas singer-songwriter Charlie Robison died on Sunday. He was 59.