Lloyd Estel Copas, known professionally as Cowboy Copas, was born on July 15, 1913, in Blue Creek, Ohio. He began his musical journey at age 14, performing locally and later appearing on radio stations WLW-AM and WKRC-AM in Cincinnati during the 1930s. In 1940, Copas moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he performed with his band, the Gold Star Rangers, on WNOX-AM. His breakthrough came in 1943 when he replaced Eddy Arnold as a vocalist in the Pee Wee King band and began performing on the Grand Ole Opry. His first solo single, "Filipino Baby", released by King Records in 1946, peaked at number 4 on the Billboard country chart. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, Copas recorded several hits including "Signed Sealed and Delivered", "The Tennessee Waltz" and Tennessee Moon. In 1960, he achieved his biggest career hit with "Alabam", which topped the charts for three months. On March 5th, 1963, Copas died in a plane crash along with Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins.
