Big Bill Lister died

"Big" Bill Lister, the "tallest cowboy in radio", died on December 1, 2009, in San Antonio, Texas. Lister was one of the more popular country music entertainers during the early 1950s.

He started his career in 1938 with appereances on local Texas radio and worked around San Antonio during the 1940s. In the early 1950s, Lister moved to Nashville, where he got a recording contract with Capitol, toured the country with Hank Williams (Lister was also a member of the Drifting Cowboys for some time), was a regular on the Grand Ole Opry and also played with other major country stars of that era. In the 1960s, Lister went out of the music business, but resumed his career in the 1980s.

Lister is often associated with the song "There's a Tear In My Beer", which he recorded for Capitol in the 1950s. The song was written by Hank Williams and ol' Hank gave Lister a demo of this song, before Lister recorded it. In the 1980s, Lister discovered the demo in his attic and was inspired by this to resume his career. It is the only known copy of this demo. The song was also recorded by Hank Williams, Jr, winning a Grammy with his version.