Sonny James Dead At 87

Legendary country and pop music performer Sonny James has passed away at the age of 87. Largely retired from the music business since 1983, James cast a wide net in music in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's. While he found early success on the pop charts, James later carved out a career successfully covering pop hits for the country audience - racking up 26 Number One hits on the Billboard charts; James held the record for the most number one country singles until the early 1980's when he was surpassed by Conway Twitty.

After retirement, Sonny James spent many years outside of the music spotlight - preferring instead to follow his passion for fishing.

Sonny James was probably the first country cross-over artist - someone who was equally at home on both the pop and country charts. He parlayed his music success with numerous appearances on network television specials throughout his career.

James was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.