Georgette Jones: Mother Tammy Wynette plagued with problems
Fox411: Georgette Jones, daughter of legendary artists Tammy Wynette and George Jones, says her mother often had strange and shocking things happen to her
Georgette Jones may be country music royalty, but she claims the title comes with a curse.
Jones, 46, is the daughter of legendary artists Tammy Wynette and George Jones. However her mother, who’s recognized as one of the most influential female singers in country music history, often had strange, shocking things happen to her.
“We had death threats and kidnapping threats, our house was set on fire and our house was flooded,” Georgette said in Fox Radio's podcast series Children of Song. “You know, a lot of crazy things going on, so I was a very scared young girl. My older sisters luckily had a little bit of a childhood before that happened. And so they were a little more capable I guess of dealing with that.”
The singer recalled one horrible encounter that frightened the family.
"We went bowling as a family one time and came home to find that somebody had broken in and they had turned on every faucet, every sink, every bathtub, every shower in the entire house so the house was flooded… In the entire house, on every window, TV, mirror, glass, anything that was reflective, they [wrote] ‘slut,’ ‘pig,’ ‘whore' — just horrible things all over the entire house. It had to be cleaned up and fixed.”
However, Wynette’s woes wouldn’t end there. Georgette added that just a few months later, another catastrophe occurred in their home. Georgette said the incident was so terrifying, she has attempted to block out the memory over the years.
“I was asleep in her bedroom in the back of the house… That part of the house caught on fire and the entire back portion of the house, we had to close off… it was completely burned. Burned away.”
Some fans have speculated the mastermind behind the dangerous incidents was Don Chapel, the songwriter Wynette was married to in 1967. That partnership ended after one year when she left Chapel to live with George.
Others even accused George himself, who had a troubled relationship with Wynette. In her 1979 autobiography, “Stand By Your Man,” she wrote George allegedly threatened her with a rifle while in a drunken rage and fired at her as she ran away. He then shot up their mansion.
“They accused my dad,” Georgette explained. “My dad would have never done any of that [to us]. He would never put any of us in harm and that was, in my opinion, a ridiculous thought… I will say this… I don’t believe in coincidences. I really don’t. I’m not one of those who believes in that.”
Wynette and George divorced in 1975, but it wouldn’t be until 1978 when songwriter George Richey casually proposed and promised to not only revive her music career, but also provide protection. Wynette said yes and Richey went on to become her fifth and final husband. The incidents then came to a halt.
Georgette hinted it might have been Richey who was terrorizing the family until Wynette finally accepted his proposal.
“The second they got married all of that stopped…,” claimed Georgette.
Wynette passed away in 1998 at age 55 in her sleep. Richey died in 2010 at age 74.
Listen to Georgette Jones' entire "Children of Song" episode. You can download or stream the podcast from the Children of Song homepage or become a subscriber on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Google Play or Stitcher.
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.