Songwriter Marijohn Wilkin, who co-wrote the classic ballad Long Black Veil and the gospel hit One Day at a Time, has died at her Nashville home.
The 86-year-old passed away Saturday from heart problems, said her close friend and music executive Patsy Bruce.
Long Black Veil was co-written in 1959 with Danny Dill and was a Top 10 single for singer Lefty Frizzell. It would also become a signature hit for Johnny Cash and be re-recorded by the likes of Joan Baez, The Kingston Trio, The Band and Bruce Springsteen, among others.
Wilkin was born in Kemp, Texas, and worked as a music teacher for a while. She was already writing her own songs and eventually moved to Nashville.
She teamed up with John Loudermilk to write Waterloo, which topped the pop and country charts in 1959.
A pop hit, Cut Across Shorty, was recorded by Eddie Cochran and Carl Smith in 1960 and revived by Rod Stewart in 1970.
She went on to record as a backup singer and founded Buckhorn Music publishing in 1964, signing on Kris Kristofferson as a writer.
Wilkin, who struggled with depression and alcohol abuse, had a religious conversion in the 1970s, which sparked the 1973 gospel song One Day at a Time — written with Kristofferson.
The song went on to be recorded more than 500 times and hit No. 1 in seven countries.
Wilkin was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.
Her other hits include I Just Don't Understand, I Didn’t Stop Dancin’ and Grin & Bear It.
She is survived by her son John (Bucky) Wilkin, a session guitarist who has played with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Kristofferson.
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