HEART to heart

You’ve been a musician for more than six decades. What song of yours stands out?

The one that everyone wants to hear is “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” A lot of people think that was our first hit, but it was not. We sold millions of records before. But it was like a rocket ship taking off, and it just kicked things way on up. It’s been such a blessing.

Were you upset that you didn’t get inducted into the Grand Ole Opry until you were 71?

I was not. In retrospect, I’m very happy that it didn’t take place until it did, because I appreciated it much more than I would have if it happened in my earlier years.

Why release your memoir Never Look at the Empty Seats now?

Well, because it’s finished now! I’ve been working on it for about 20 years. When they told me I was going to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame [in 2016], I thought, “What a great place to end it.”

What feelings did the book bring up?

Looking back to when I first started trying to learn how to play and the struggle I went through, how really hard it was… you kind of relive that. Being a professional musician — it has a lot of ups and downs to it. I felt nostalgia, sadness and sometimes I missed people who had been lost to me, but also joy about a lot of blessings that have been granted to me.

You were born in North Carolina and moved around a lot as a kid. Why?

My dad had a drinking problem, so the company he worked with would move him around. But he was the most respected person in the timber business. If he said a tract of timber was worth something, everyone knew it was worth it, and that was a unique talent.

How did his drinking affect you?

It was traumatic, though he never got violent and he’d stay sober for four or five years. I

had to make new friends constantly, and by the time I established relationships, we’d move again. I went to as many as three schools in one year, more times than one.

What lessons did you learn from it all?

Life is not easy or fair. If you’re able to hide from that in your early days, you’re going to have to face it when you’re out there. I had a leg up on it.

Before Hazel, you briefly married a woman named Lee…

[That was] something I shouldn’t have done. I knew that two weeks after I married her. We were like oil and water, and it just kept getting worse. Finally, I just kind of walked out.

But soon you found the love of your life and had Charlie Jr. Was it tough to be away from them so much on the road?

It was a big sacrifice. I was once gone from home for 16 weeks, and when I walked into my house and picked up my son, he started crying because he didn’t know who I was.

That’s rough...

I’m not going to have regrets, because my family understood [it was for them]. When I was home, I spent all of my time with them, and when my son started school in 1983, I got a bus for my wife and she’s been traveling with me ever since. It bettered all of our lives, and now I spend 24 hours a day with her. There’s a method to our madness!

Did your son follow in your footsteps?

He could have — I think he had the talent for it — but he got interested in other things. He works with me. I guess you could say he’s our IT guy. If anyone has a problem with anything on the web, he’s the man.

You’ve overcome a lot of health issues…

I broke my arm real bad in 1980, couldn’t do anything for four months, and when I tried to get back on my feet again, I was immobilized and couldn’t walk 100 yards without stopping. I made up my mind to get serious about exercising, and I did. I’m also a cancer survivor, I have a pacemaker and I’ve had a stroke.

“The rewards, once they start coming, are wonderful.”

— Charlie (with Angela Lansbury in a 1987 episode of

Murder, She Wrote)

You’re like the Terminator!

Until the good Lord calls me home or people get tired of listening to me, I’m going to be here on stage entertaining people.

Are you worried the cancer will return?

You can “what if” yourself into an early grave. I choose not to live that way. I’ve come to find that most of the things we worry about are not going to happen anyway. You’ve wasted a big part of your life thinking negative thoughts, and it takes just as much effort thinking positive thoughts, so you might as well do that.

Anything left on your to-do list?

I want to catch a 10-pound bass and bag an eight-point buck!