Country music Hall of Famer and a Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens passed away Friday afternoon at a Nashville area hospital. He was 94.

He had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke on Christmas Day. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to a new release from the Grand Ole Opry.

Dickens was known for his comedic routines in which he claimed he was "Mighty Mouse in pajamas" and "Willie Nelson after taxes".

Here is video I took from one of my Grand Ole Opry visits:

Little Jimmy was a longtime fixture on the Opry. He joined the cast in 1948, the same year he signed a record deal with Columbia Records.

His lone number one song came in 1965 with "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose".

The first hit he had though was in 1949 with a song called "Take an Old Cold 'Tater (And Wait)". It was the song from which fellow Opry star Hank Williams drew the nickname that stuck with Dickens for decades -- Tater.

Tater had a lot of friends. When stars played the Opry, he was a friend to all.

"The Grand Ole Opry did not have a better friend than Little Jimmy Dickens," Opry vice president and general manager Pete Fisher said in a statement. "He loved the audience and his Opry family, and all of us loved him back. He was a one-of-kind entertainer and a great soul whose spirit will live on for years to come."

Many of today's singers bonded with Little Jimmy too. None more than Brad Paisley. Here's what Brad wrote.

 


Little Jimmy Dickens made his last Opry appearance on December 20, one day after his 94th birthday.

We're gonna miss you Little Jimmy! You were a truly great person.

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