Country Music Hall of Famer Hank Thompson, who melded Western swing and honky-tonk music on such hits as 'A Six Pack to Go,' 'Humpty Dumpty Heart' and 'Wild Side of Life,' passed away Tuesday at the age of 82. In his 60-plus-year career, he had garnered 29 Top 10 country hits, and he and his band, the Brazos Valley Boys, had been voted the No. 1 country & western band for 14 years in a row by Billboard magazine.

The Texas-born-and-bred singer and guitarist, who up till his death was still an active performer, having only recently canceled an upcoming tour, succumbed to lung cancer in his Keller, Texas, home. Thompson's most well-known song, 1952's 'Wild Side of Life,' inspired an equally famous answer record, 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,' which launched the career of country star Kitty Wells.
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