Song · George Jones
“He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones
Released 1981
“He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones appears on 4 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2001 and 2021. It was first released in 1981. Its best result is #72 on the 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,524 indie & aaa song of all time and #436 of the '80s.
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George Jones cut "He Stopped Loving Her Today" with producer Billy Sherrill, and Epic sent it out in April 1980 as the lead single from I Am What I Am. Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman wrote it, and it handed Jones his first solo number-one single in six years. Plenty of people have gone further than that: several surveys have named it the greatest country song ever, and Garth Brooks said as much on the Opry 100 television special in 2025.
The honors kept coming. The Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2008, and when Jones died in 2013 it climbed back onto the Hot Country Songs chart the following week. Alan Jackson sang it at his funeral, and later that year Jackson and George Strait performed it together at the CMA Awards.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 98 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2007 | 788 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2020 | 330 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2021 | 72 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
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