George Hamilton IV

George Hamilton IV, born George Hamilton on July 19, 1937, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is an American country musician. Introduced to country music by his paternal grandfather, Hamilton began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol. While attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he recorded "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" for Colonial Records, which reached number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. By 1960, the song had attained gold record status. Hamilton joined the Rockabilly Tour with notable artists like Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly, and later became a regular performer on The Jimmy Dean Show. In late 1959, he moved to Nashville and officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in February 1960. His breakthrough hit was "Before This Day Ends" (1961), followed by his biggest hit, "Abilene" (1963), which spent four weeks at Number 1 on Billboard's country singles chart. Hamilton continued to perform regularly at the Grand Ole Opry until late in his life. He celebrated his 50th year as a Grand Ole Opry member in 2010 and passed away on September 17, 2014.