Among the 33 artists inducted this year into the Georgia Country Music Hall of Fame was Donald Lee, known most commonly in the music as Stagger Lee.
Born on McDill Air Force Base in Florida, Lee was raised in West Virginia, where he developed his love for traditional mountain music. With his siblings he learned harmony singing and took up the fiddle, which would be his instrument for most of his life.
In the early ’70s, he and his older brother Dale launched a band, Don Lee Jr. & Blue Country, playing bluegrass and country wherever there was a show for them to do. From there, Don and his fiddle headed for Pasadena, TX for a gig at Gilley’s. There he stayed through the late ’70s, and where he wrote and recorded a #1 regional hit, Wacky Tobakky.
Next was time at the home of the Louisiana Hayride, at KWKH in Shreveport, LA. He, brother Dale, and sister Diana were recognized as Entertainers of the Year at the Hayride in 1982.
Stagger also played many other instruments besides fiddle, including guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, and piano.
After settling in Georgia in 1993, Lee and his wife, Lori Lynn Lee, built Stagger Lee Music Park in Hazelhurst, an RV Park dedicated to building community through music. There the annual Headin’ Home Fest is hosted each April and October.
At the Georgia Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony, Lee was recognized as a songwriter, and for all his life’s work for the betterment of traditional music.
Congratulations to Stagger Lee!
