George Jones Once Played Buck Owens’ Entire Show During His Opening Set Because Buck Refused To Let Him Headline

Never knew what you were going to get from Ol' Possum. George Jones was arguably one of the greatest country music singers of all time. And by all accounts, he was generally quiet and reserved - until he started drinking and popping pills. The "He Stopped Loving Her Today" singer was well-known for his wild antics when he was under the influence, including once having to be hogtied by Waylon Jennings after getting too rowdy and punching Waylon in the face, and of course infamously driving his lawnmower to the liquor store when his wife took his keys from him. Though he was generally a shy and respectful guy (when he was sober), Jones also had a bit of a rebellious side to him too - and it got him into some trouble more than a few times. On one particular occasion, Jones nearly lost his friendship with the legendary Buck Owens over what Possum would later call one of his biggest regrets. But it was also a pretty ballsy move from Jones. The story was recalled by LOCASH on an episode of The Justin Moore Podcast , who heard the story from Jones while flying with the legend on his private jet to a show. Jones had been out on tour opening for Buck Owens. But as his career began to pick up steam, he thought it was his turn to be the headliner. Eventually he began asking Owens every night to let him headline the show - to which Owens of course told him no. (Could you imagine an opener going up to a headliner before a show now and asking him to switch spots on the lineup? Sounds insane, right?) Well anyway, at one point, Jones had enough of the rejection - so he went back to his bus and learned every single Buck Owens song, and played the headliner's entire set from top to bottom during his opening performance. That would be like going to a Morgan Wallen concert these days and having HARDY play Morgan's entire setlist during the opening act. Must have been wild for the concertgoers at the show. And to top it all of, that's not the only time that Jones pulled that stunt: He did the same thing while on tour with Elvis Presley. Needless to say, he didn't last much longer on those tours: “That there was the last show I ever did with Buck Owens… same thing happened with Elvis Presley; I never did a show after that either.” The falling out didn't last long, and Jones and Owens were able to repair their friendship. But Possum once called the stunt one of his biggest regrets. But man, what a legendary move. You can hear LOCASH recount the story, as told to them by Jones, on The Justin Moore Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF5fmb2bzZU