29-04-2025
Iconic Muscle Shoals musician who worked with Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton dies aged 82
Keyboardist David Briggs has died at the age of 82 in Nashville.
Briggs, who made hits with the 20th century biggest starts, including Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton.
He is credited with helping popularize country music and making his hometown of Muscle Shoals as hub for the genre.
The Alabama native died on April 22 in a hospice facility from complications of renal cancer, as reported by The New York Times.
Briggs was an unmissable presence in country music, also working with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson.
The musician played on legendary R&B singles like Arthur Alexander's You Better Move in in 1962 and Jimmy Hughes' Steal Away in 1964.
He also provided accompaniment for Dolly Parton's beloved single, Coat of Many Colors, in 1971.
Briggs was a constant presence on stage with Elvis during the last 11 years of his life of the King of Rock's life.
The two started working together after Briggs played piano for Elvis' 1966 single Love Letters. Briggs then went on tour with the King and his TCB band.
Briggs started his musical career as a teen, playing with the original rhythm section at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals.
He then spent some time in Nashville, where his career soared as he began working with Elvis, Parton and James Brown.
In 1969, he went back to Alabama and founded the iconic studio Quadraphonic Sound with bassist Norbert Putnam.
The two also founded a publishing house, Willin' David Music, that went on to produce hits including Whitney Houston's Didn't We Almost Have It All.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Briggs wrote and arranged jingles for companies like Coca-Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The musician later opened a studio called House of David in Nashville.
He was elected to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and awarded with the Cecil B. Scaife Visionary Award in 2011. In 2019, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.
'David Briggs could play keyboards in any style. For more than four decades, his deft touch graced countless country, R&B, rock, and pop recordings,' said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum., as reported by Fox 54.
'He was eighteen years old when he played piano on Arthur Alexander's epochal Muscle Shoals hit 'You Better Move On.' Recruited to Nashville by producer Owen Bradley, Briggs immediately became a studio fixture, enhancing records by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and many more. He further shaped Music City in co-founding Quadrafonic Studio and opening his own House of David studio.
'He was a man of music through and through.'
