As he was trying to break into the business in the mid-1950s, a record company executive suggested he might be better off pursuing songwriting instead of performing. But, scarred by the teasing he took in childhood for his stammer, he spent years trying to overcome his fears of being out front, introducing his songs or thanking crowds. It was precisely that self-deprecating humor that would eventually endear him to fans. He joked that his CB handle would be “Old F-F-Flutterlips.” Tillis, who became one of country music’s most durable and versatile talents, once described himself as “the most unlikely to ever make it” in show business, mostly because of his speech impediment. Tillis had undergone colon cancer surgery in January 2016. His death was announced by publicist Don Murry Grubbs, who said in a statement that the cause was probably respiratory failure.
Mel Tillis, a chart-topping Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter and singer who turned a chronic stutter to his advantage, winning a following as a genial folksy performer onstage and in a side career in movies and on TV, died Nov. 19 at a hospital in Ocala, Fla.
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