Outlaw Country Icon C.W. McCall Enters Hospice Care Amid Cancer Battle

ConvoyTM / YouTube

C.W. McCall is most well-known as the artist who recorded the outlaw country song “Convoy.” The song went on to inspire the 1978 Kris Kristofferson movie of the same name. A new version of “Convoy” was penned for the movie, and McCall sang it as well.

The original “Convoy” reached the #1 spot on the Hot Country Songs chart and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. It was McCall’s first and only chart-topping hit on either chart.

In 1976, McCall released a sequel to “Convoy,” titled “Round the World with Rubber Duck.” This song reached the 40th spot on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Other songs McCall recorded included the Top 20 hits “Wolf Creek Pass,” “Classified,” “There Won’t Be No Country Music (There Won’t Be No Rock ‘n’ Roll),” and “Roses for Mama.”

McCall released his last album, American Spirit, in 2003. He was inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame six years later. McCall was born in Iowa in 1928.

In addition to being a country music artist, McCall served as the mayor of Ouray, Colorado for six years. He left office in 1992.

McCall, whose real name is William Dale Fries Jr., is now 93 years old. He recently called in as a guest on the Drew & Mike Show podcast, and shared some unfortunate news about his health.

“I’m battling cancer,” McCall told the hosts.

McCall went on to share that he has entered hospice care, saying, “We have a deal here now where I have nurses on-call at home. I don’t have to go to hospitals. It’s a hospice service here locally from Montrose, Colo.“

Despite everything he’s going through right now, McCall did have one happy thing to celebrate. He told the hosts that he and his wife were celebrating their 70th anniversary on February 14.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to McCall and his family during this difficult time.