Country singer Ray Price, who was among last living connections to Hank Williams, dead at 87

MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas – Ray Price, a towering traditional country singer who was one of the last living connections to Hank Williams, has died. He was 87.

Billy Mack Jr., the son of Bill Mack, says Price died Monday afternoon. Price had pancreatic cancer.

Mack, a family friend, said he was acting as a family spokesman. The wife of family friend and spokesman Tom Perryman, a DJ with KKUS-FM in Tyler, also confirmed his death.

Price was perhaps best known for his version of the Kris Kristofferson-written song “For the Good Times” in 1970 that became a pop hit. He was one of the most influential figures in country music in the 1960s and ’70s, helping define the genre’s honky-tonk sound early in his career, then taking it in a more polished direction later.