81-Year-Old Country Legend Mickey Gilley Opens Up About Frightening Car Crash

ABC13 Houston / YouTube

Mickey Gilley was involved in a frightening car crash on January 3 in Lufkin, Texas. His son, Michael, was driving them to Mickey’s theater in Bronson, Missouri when another car ran through a stop sign and crossed in front of their vehicle. Michael attempted to swerve out of the way, but ended up clipping the other car. Their vehicle rolled over three or four times and landed upside down.

The 81-year-old singer suffered a fractured right shoulder and a fractured left ankle, while his son escaped with a few bruises. Since the accident, Mickey postponed his January 6 concert, but vowed to fans that he will reschedule once he’s feeling 100%. He currently has three upcoming shows in January listed on his website. No word on if those will be postponed as well.

Sitting down for his first interview since the crash, Gilley spoke candidly about the incident.

“The air bags didn’t deploy. I don’t know if that was a blessing or a curse,” he told ABC13 KTRK News.

“It was like slow motion,” he continued. “The unbelievable feeling you get when you know you’re going to hit something and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

He also told the reporter that Michael had to cut him out of his seatbelt. We can only imagine how frightening this situation was for Mickey and his son, and we are thankful they are both okay.

This isn’t the first time Mickey has suffered an injury in recent years. In 2009, he was helping a friend move a couch and fell down. The sofa fell on top of him and crushed four vertebrae. He was temporarily paralyzed, but regained his ability to walk thanks to intense therapy.

Even though he has to walk around with a big boot on his foot for a while and has cuts on his head, Gilley hasn’t lost his bright personality.

“When I open my shows now in the theater, I tell the people I just turned 81, I hope I look 50 and I’m walkin’ like I’m 90. So I’m gonna be walkin’ like I’m 100 now with this boot on my left leg,” he said with a smile.

Mickey’s country music career began in the 1970s and leaned more towards pop-friendly sounds in the 1980s. After the release of the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, his career really took off. His biggest hits include “Room Full Of Roses,” “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time,” and a remake of the iconic song “Stand by Me.”

Watch Mickey’s interview with ABC13 KTRK below.