Ely, also a member of the Flatlanders, was at the forefront of Austin’s eclectic country-rock scene
Joe Ely, the Texas singer, songwriter, and guitarist who was at the forefront of the Seventies’ progressive country movement as both a solo artist and part of the group the Flatlanders, died Monday at 78. According to a statement from his rep to Rolling Stone, Ely died at home in New Mexico from complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s, and pneumonia.
To read the bullet points of Ely’s life is to assume it was fiction. He formed the cult band the Flatlanders with fellow Texans Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, but the music they recorded sat mostly unreleased for decades. He went on to join and travel with the Ringling Bros. circus, where he took care of horses and was nearly trampled by a line of elephants. Returning to music, he released his debut solo album and befriended Joe Strummer and the Clash, sitting in on the recording of London Calling and touring both the U.S. and U.K. with the punk icons.
And that was only the Seventies.
“I made it this far. I had teachers tell me I wouldn’t make it to 21 when I was going to high school, so I beat the odds, you know?” Ely told Lone Star Music Magazine in 2011. “I’ve traveled millions of miles, zigging and zagging in every kind of vehicle known to man, trying to get from one place to another to create some more music.”
Ely was born Feb. 9, 1947, in Amarillo, Texas. Raised in Lubbock in the western part of the state, he migrated to Austin and helped lead a revolution of rock-influenced country, going on to influence artists as diverse as the Clash and Bruce Springsteen. He released his last album, Love and Freedom, in February 2025.
[This story is developing.]
