Charlie Robison Dies: Country Singer & ‘Nashville Star’ Judge Was 59

Charlie Robison, the country music star and former judge on USA Network’s Nashville Star, has died. He was 59.

According to the Associated Press, Robison passed away on Sunday, September 10, at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas, after suffering a cardiac arrest and other complications.

Born on September 1, 1964, in Houston, Texas, Robison began his career in country music in the late 1980s after a knee injury ended a potential football career. He started out in various bands, including his own Millionaire Playboys, before releasing his debut solo album, Bandera, in 1996.

He went on to sign with Sony, releasing the albums Life of the Party and Unleashed Live before moving to Columbia Records in 2001 and releasing his most successful album, Step Right Up, which peaked at 27 on the U.S. Country charts. The latter album also included his only Top 40 country song, “I Want You Bad.”

In 2003, Robison became one of the original judges on the USA Network’s reality competition series Nashville Star alongside author and journalist Robert K. Oermann and talent manager Tracy Gershon. He would leave after one season and was replaced by country music duo The Warren Brothers. Subsequent judges included Bret Michaels, Blake Shelton, and Jewel.

Robison left Columbia Records in 2004 and signed with a smaller independent label, Dualtone, where he released the album Good Times. The record’s titular song was featured in the credits of HBO’s vampire drama True Blood in the first season’s third episode.

He would go on to release three more albums across different labels between 2009 and 2013 but formally retired from music in 2018 after complications from a throat surgery left him unable to sing.

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“At the beginning of this year I underwent a surgical procedure that because of complications left me with the permanent inability to sing,” Robison wrote in a 2018 Facebook post.

“Therefore, with a very heavy heart I am officially retiring from the stage and studio,” he continued. “It’s been an amazing ride and I cannot tell you all what the last 25 years has meant to me. I was looking forward to another 25 but as they say “s*** happens”. I thank you all for everything you’ve given me and I hope I was able to give you a fraction of the happiness you gave me.”

Robison made a brief return to music in 2022, embarking on his first tour since 2018.

He is survived by his wife, Kristen Robison, and four children and stepchildren. Three of the children come from his marriage to The Chicks’ Emily Strayer.