The Greatest Oldies Music

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Before Marty Robbins agreed to heart bypass surgery, he wanted an answer to one question: would he still be able to race? A physician later recalled that concern from the period following Marty’s first major heart attack in August 1969. Five months afterward, he underwent a procedure still considered experimental. Recovery brought him back to recording, the Grand Ole Opry—and, by October 1970, NASCAR competition. For the next thirteen years, heart trouble remained part of a life Marty was reluctant to narrow. Several wrecks prompted a break from racing, but he returned in 1977. Between concerts, recording dates, and race weekends, his schedule gave little indication of how serious his medical history had become. In 1982, there were fresh reasons to keep working. “Some Memories Just Won’t Die” reached the country Top Ten in May. Billboard presented him with its Artist Resurgence Award in October, the same month he entered the Country Music Hall of Fame. Almost thirty years after his first national success, the singer of “El Paso” was enjoying renewed recognition. He was still competing on the track in November. On December 1, he performed in Cincinnati. The following morning, back home, severe chest pain sent him to St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville. Tests revealed a massive heart attack that had deprived a substantial portion of his heart of blood. Surgeons operated urgently, repairing earlier bypasses and adding another. Marty survived the operation and briefly responded, smiling and squeezing a nurse’s hand. But his heart had sustained damage from which he could not recover. He died on December 8, 1982, aged fifty-seven—eight weeks after his Hall of Fame induction and a month after his last NASCAR race. At his Nashville funeral, approximately 1,500 mourners crowded the chapel, nearby rooms, and hallways. Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Charley Pride, Porter Wagoner, and Brenda Lee were among the friends gathered with fans, some of whom had traveled overnight. Marty’s first heart attack had come in 1969. Much of the career people remembered at his funeral had happened afterward: more records, Opry appearances, races, and a final return to the charts. He had lived long enough to receive country music’s highest recognition. Only weeks earlier, he had stood before that audience to accept it, still maintaining the busy calendar of a man who expected there would be more to do.

MARTY ROBBINS KEPT RACING AFTER HEART SURGERY—THEN LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO ENTER THE HALL OF FAME

By the fall of 1982, Marty Robbins had already spent more than a decade refusing to live like a man with a damaged heart.

His first major heart attack came in August 1969. Five months later, he underwent bypass surgery at a time when the procedure was still relatively new.

The operation saved his life.

Marty treated it almost like permission to keep moving.

He Wanted to Know If He Could Still Race

Before agreeing to surgery, one of his doctors later remembered Robbins asking whether he would still be allowed to drive race cars.

The answer mattered to him.

Within weeks of leaving the hospital, he was already doing physical work around home. By October 1970, he was back in NASCAR competition.

He would step away after several wrecks, then return again in 1977.

For most people, heart surgery would have narrowed life.

Marty kept widening his.

The Contradiction Became Normal

Concerts continued.

Recording sessions continued.

So did race weekends.

Robbins lived between the Grand Ole Opry and stock-car tracks, repeatedly pushing a heart that doctors had already repaired once.

It was reckless by almost any medical standard.

It was also completely consistent with the way he seemed determined to live.

1982 Looked Like a Comeback

Thirteen years after the first heart attack, Marty was enjoying one of the strongest late-career stretches of his life.

“Some Memories Just Won’t Die” became a Top Ten hit in May 1982.

In October, Billboard honored him with its Artist Resurgence Award.

That same month, Marty Robbins was inducted into the  Country Music Hall of Fame.

Nearly thirty years after his first national success, the singer behind “El Paso” was not being remembered in retirement.

He was still working.

One More Race

Marty was still racing in November.

Then, on December 2, after performing in Cincinnati the previous night, he woke at home with severe chest pain and went to St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville.

Doctors discovered that a massive heart attack had cut blood flow to a large section of his heart.

Surgeons attempted another emergency operation, repairing earlier bypasses and adding another.

Marty survived the surgery.

For a moment, he even smiled and squeezed a nurse’s hand.

Six Days

The damage was too severe.

For six days, doctors used a respirator, medications, dialysis and a balloon pump to keep his failing heart working.

His wife Marizona and their children remained nearby.

He was fifty-seven.

Only eight weeks had passed since his induction into the Country  Music Hall of Fame.

His final NASCAR race had been only a month earlier.

What Those Thirteen Extra Years Really Leave Behind

At Marty’s funeral in Nashville, roughly 1,500 people filled the chapel, adjoining rooms and hallways.

Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Charley Pride, Porter Wagoner and Brenda Lee were among those who came, alongside fans who had traveled through the night.

Marty Robbins had spent thirteen years after his first heart attack doing nearly everything doctors might have expected him to give up.

He kept recording.

He kept racing.

He returned to the charts.

And he lived long enough to see country music place his name in its Hall of Fame before the heart he had repeatedly pushed back into service finally stopped.

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