Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928[1] – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits ("Oh Lonesome Me") from 1957 into the mid-1970s.
Gibson was nicknamed "The Sad Poet" because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love.[1]
His song "I Can't Stop Loving You", has been recorded by over 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles in 1962.[1] He also wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams", a song that would become a major 1963 crossover hit for Patsy Cline. Roy Orbison was a fan of Gibson's songwriting, and in 1967, he recorded an album of his songs simply titled Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson.[1] Gibson's wide appeal was also shown in Neil Young's recorded version of "Oh Lonesome Me" on his 1970 album After the Gold Rush, which is one of the few songs Young has recorded that he did not write.
Gibson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973. In 2001 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.[3]
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