Country Singer Mickey Gilley Injured In Car Accident

Country music singer Mickey Gilley and his son were involved in a car accident in Texas, and both are recovering well after sustaining minor injuries.

MICKEY GILLEY INJURED IN CAR CRASH

A statement from the artist’s publicist said Thursday that the pair were driving near Corrigan, Texas, when their car rolled over. The 81-year-old singer now has a fractured ankle and a fractured right shoulder, and will have to reschedule his next concert, which was initially planned for Greeneville, Texas, on January 6.

“The airbags didn’t deploy,” said the singer. “I don’t know if that was a blessing or a curse.” His son was driving his Toyota Scion, headed toward the singer’s home in Branson, Missouri. He described that a car crossed in front of them at an intersection, and his son swerved to avoid a crash, causing their own car to flip.

“It was like slow motion,” Gilley told radio station KTRK. “The unbelievable feeling you get when you know you’re going to hit something and there’s nothing you can do about it… At 81, I’m very lucky,” Gilley said, recalling the moment when his son cut him out of his seatbelt. “When I open my shows now, I tell the people I just turned 81, I hope I look like I’m 50. I walk like I’m 90. So I’m gonna be walking like I’m 100 now, with this boot on my left leg.”

Gilley has his first success on the charts with “Room Full of Roses,” and his other hits included “Stand by Me,” “Window Up Above,” and “Don’t the Girls Get Prettier at Closing Time.” His namesake Texas honky-tonk club inspired the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, and Gilley is responsible for the resulting nationwide fad for Western-themed nightclubs in the 1980s.