NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Some of the best-known names in country music turned out at the Grand Ole Opry to pay tribute to signing legend Little Jimmy Dickens.
Thursday’s program opened with a recording of Jimmy singing a song referencing his upbringing in the hills of Raleigh County, W.Va. Fellow West Virginian Brad Paisley addressed the crowd.
“While this feels like it should be a solemn occasion, I think he’d want us to be anything but sad,” said Paisley.
Paisley joked that the service would not include remembrances of: “I wish he hadn’t taken himself so seriously. I wish he’d made more friends. I wish he’d taken more chances. I wish he’d enjoyed his life more. I wish he treated people better. I wish he was taller.”
“I don’t think any of us wished he was taller. He was exactly the size we needed him to be,” Paisley said as the crowd applauded in approval. “I for one don’t want to live in a world of ‘Big Jim Dickens.'”
The stage of the Grand Ole Opry, which had become Dickens’ home away from home, was adorned in flowers and photos of the man who was small in stature but a giant in heart. His guitar and a pair of boots with his white hat sat center stage on the famous circle with the scuff marks from the boots of countless singing legends.
Dickens at 4-foot-11 dedicated his life to entertainment and making others laugh. Most people knew him only for his quirky, homespun silly songs. However, legendary broadcaster Eddie Stubbs delivered a stirring eulogy which painted a life of hard times and heartache which Dickens largely shielded from everyone with his confidence and humor.
“Jimmy Dickens knew about the hard times. He saw the effects the coal mines had on his family and he figured there had to be another way to make a living,” Stubbs shared. “Health-wise he was hospitalized probably 100 times over the years. He narrowly escaped death on several occasions including once when he walked away from a plane crash.”
Stubbs detailed a lifetime of hard luck for Dickens which included coming home to find his house in ashes and everything he owned burned to the ground. He went through one divorce and lost his second wife to a car wreck. Stubbs explained to the packed house Dickens endured financial hard times and often was treated unfairly by the music industry.
“But through all of this and a whole lot more, Jimmy Dickens survived,” Stubbs said. “The joy of bringing happiness to others through his self-acknowledged God-given talent sustained him through good times and bad. He personified the word ‘tough.'”
Stubbs noted when Dickens started performing, there were people listening to his music who were alive during the Civil War.
“I can’t even fathom what he saw in his lifetime,” said Paisley. “As we remember him, I’m so glad I was part of one of the generations that got to experience him first hand.”
The tributes came from all corners of the country music industry. Fellow West Virginian Connie Smith laughingly recalled the love she and husband Marty Stuart had for Dickens.
“Marty would be ready to go on stage sometimes and Jimmy would say, ‘Go on over there, put it on the front burner, and cook it with lard,'” she said.
Performances included Smith, Paisley, Steve Warner, Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood performed the haunting ballad, “Go Rest High on the Mountain.”
Paisley wrapped up Thursday’s service overwhelmed with emotion. He asked everyone to return to the stage to continue a tradition started by Dickens as everyone joined in the singing of “Will the Circle be Unbroken.”
“We’ll take it from here little buddy,” said Paisley, choking back tears. “This tradition that he began, will continue with all of us. We owe it to his memory to keep this place alive and going forever.”