Country singer who produced seven decades of songs fusing jazz, Western swing, and honky-tonk. He sold more than 60 million records, scored 29 Top 10 country hits, and had 19 songs in the Top 20. Thompson was on the charts for six consecutive decades with songs like “Humpty Dumpty Heart” in 1948 and “Gotta Sell Them Chickens” in 1997. In 1952 “The Wild Side of Life” was the number one country song of the year, and Thompson was the number one country artist of the year. His band, the Brazos Valley Boys was the top-ranked country band from 1953 to 1965, a record that has not yet been broken. They played music meant for dancing with theatrical vocals, fiddles, and steel guitars. The silver-toed boot and rhinestone suit wearing Thompson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.