The hard-living country singer/songwriter Gary Stewart rightfully earned his title “King of the Honky Tonks.” He began as a songwriter of drinking, honky tonk, and heartbreak songs. During the 1970s he hit as a recording artist with charting singles including “She’s Acting Single (I’m Drinking Doubles),” “Drinkin’ Thing,” “Quits,” and “Whiskey Trip,” and a string of charting albums from 1975’s Out of Hand to 1980’s Cactus and a Rose. They earned the respect of critics, DJs, and the record-buying public. Stewart sounded like a young George Jones and pounded the piano like Jerry Lee Lewis. After the hits stopped, his lifestyle got the better of him, despite three excellent comeback albums for Hightone in the ’90s.
In November 2003, his wife of 47 years died…