Country legend George Glenn Jones was a celebrated name in country music, but the Texas native had a rough road to happily ever after. After three failed marriages (Dorothy Bonvillion, Shirley Ann Corley, and Tammy Wynette), it seemed like nothing was going to work out for the country star. Then he met fourth wife, Nancy Sepulvado. Sometimes the most romantic love stories are the ones who make it through the toughest of times — not just the good stuff.
The "He Stopped Loving Her Today" singer met his future wife at one of his concerts in New York all the way back in 1981. Sepulvado went to one of his shows with her friend who was dating George Jones' manager. She was totally clueless about his music but tells The Tennessean she quickly became a fan.
"My God, he walked on stage, and the crowd goes wild," she said. "And that voice. I thought, 'How is that coming out of that man's mouth? Dang, he's good.'"
By 1983, Sepulvado became Nancy Jones, but the Louisiana native didn't realize what she was getting herself into with the country music singer. Though Jones was talented, he had earned himself the nickname of "No Show Jones" for a reason. Due to his issues with alcohol and drugs, you never knew when he'd show up for shows, recording sessions, or any other prior engagements. There were easily horror stories of what happened behind the scenes that will never see the light of day.
"To me, it was a roller coaster," Nancy relayed to The Tennessean. "George was the sweetest man you could meet. But when George would drink, there was a devil that jumped inside of him."
It took a near-death experience from a car accident in 1999 to get The Possum to turn it all around, with the loving support and help from his wife. She took the reigns and got her husband to play all of his canceled shows. He quit his substances cold turkey, and she helped him through Alcoholics Anonymous. She felt like she was put on this earth to save him.
"God told me, 'If you leave him, he's going to die.' And I said, 'You know what — you're too good of a man to let go to hell and I'm not gonna let you do it,'" she told The Tennessean.
Read More: The Story Behind George Jones' 'He Stopped Loving Her Today'
With the drinking problem under control, the country singer and his wife had an incredible relationship until his death from hypoxic respiratory failure in 2013, following 30 years of marriage. In his autobiography I Lived To Tell It All, Jones explains in detail how his wife quite literally saved his life.
"No teenage boy ever fell harder for a girl than I fell for Nancy Sepulvado. When I met my future wife on a blind date in November 1981, I had no idea that someday she would save my life...They say love can change the world. I'm here to testify that it changed one man. Friends, family, doctors, therapists, and ministers had tried to save me, but to no avail. But finally, the power of love from one woman, Nancy Jones, made the difference."
Watch Jones sing "I'm A One Woman Man" below and really take in how deep their love story was.
This article was originally published in 2019.
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