Country legend and Hall of Fame songwriter dies at age 82

Hugh Prestwood may not be a name that most country music fans know, but it should be because he was truly a legend in his field.

Prestwood, a songwriter who penned hits for some of country’s top musicians, has died after reportedly suffering a stroke.

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He was 82.

“Hugh Prestwood, who wrote major hits including Randy Travis’ ‘Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart’ and Trisha Yearwood’s ‘The Song Remembers When,’ died Sept. 22,” the Country Music Hall of Fame wrote in a post on X “The Texas native, who composed his work solo, was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.”

Prestwood was reportedly first discovered by Judy Collins and he wrote his first hit “Hard time for Lovers” for her in 1978. Rolling Stone said Prestwood was “one of the most respected and sought-after songwriters in Nashville from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s.”

Yearwood also wrote about Prestwood’s death on social media.

“Hugh Prestwood was a poet,” she wrote. “’The Song Remembers When’ is one of the greatest songs ever written and I’m the lucky girl who got to sing it. It paints a beautiful picture of the power of music.

“We’re all lucky that Hugh decided to become a writer,” she continued. “I’ll miss his voice.”