R.I.P.: Joe Ely, Influential Texas Singer-Songwriter

Joe Ely (1947-2025)

Joe Ely, the influential Texas singer-songwriter known for blending country, rock, honky-tonk, Tex-Mex, and blues into what helped shape modern Americana, passed away on December 15, 2025, at his home in Taos, New Mexico. He was 78.

His family announced that the cause of death was complications from Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and pneumonia. Ely had publicly shared his diagnoses in September 2025, emphasizing a message of hope through music.Born in Amarillo, Texas, in 1947 and raised in Lubbock, Ely co-founded the seminal country-rock group The Flatlanders in the early 1970s with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock. 

Though their debut album went largely unnoticed at the time, it later became a cult classic, and the trio reunited periodically over the decades.

The Early Years

Ely's solo career took off in the late 1970s with albums like his self-titled debut (1977) and Honky Tonk Masquerade (1978), earning him a reputation as a dynamic live performer and genre-defying artist. He released over 20 albums, with his most recent being Love and Freedom earlier in 2025.He gained wider rock audiences through high-profile collaborations and tours. 

In 1978, members of The Clash attended one of his London shows, leading to a friendship; Ely opened for them on tours, sang backup on their hit "Should I Stay or Should I Go," and was name-checked in their song "If Music Could Talk." 

He also toured with the Rolling Stones and developed a mutual admiration with Bruce Springsteen, who inducted him into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in 2016, performed with him onstage multiple times, and guested on Ely's 2024 track "Odds of the Blues." Springsteen paid tribute after Ely's passing, calling him "a singular American singer, great musician and great artist" and "an American classic."

Ely's honors included a Grammy with the supergroup Los Super Seven, induction into the West Texas Walk of Fame, and designation as Texas State Musician in 2016. 

Though he never achieved massive mainstream success, his influence on songwriters and performers across country, rock, and punk remains profound, with tributes pouring in from the Country Music Hall of Fame and fellow artists.