Nashville engineer Billy Sherrill, who played an important role in the careers of Kenny Rogers, Kenny Chesney, the Chicks and more, has died. Music Row reports that Sherrill died on Tuesday (Sept. 10) at the age of 77.

Sherrill was raised in Kentucky, where he had his first musical experiences in a series of local bands.

He made his way to Nashville after college, where he began working at what became the Sound Shop. He met producer Larry Butler there, who brought him into his first major recording session, engineering Jean Shepard’s “Slippin’ Away” in 1973.

That led to a partnership in which Butler produced and Sherrill engineered recordings for the biggest artists of the era, including Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Mac Davis, Mickey Gilley, John Denver, Dottie West and more.

The pair collaborated on a long string of hits for Kenny Rogers, including his breakthrough hit, “Lucille,” “Love or Something Like It,” “You Decorated My Life,” “Coward of the County,” “She Believes in Me” and Rogers’ signature song, “The Gambler.”

Apart from Butler, Sherrill went on to work with Kenny Chesney in the early years of his career, engineering songs including “She Think My Tractor’s Sexy.” He also engineered the Chicks’ Fly album in 1999.

The Musicians Hall of Fame inducted Sherrill in 2019, and the Audio Engineering Society awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award that same year.

Sherrill’s cause of death is not public. He is survived by his wife, Susan, as well as a daughter, Chandler Nicole and son, David. Funeral services have not been announced.

Sterling Whitaker is a Senior Writer and Senior Editor for Taste of Country. He focuses on celebrity real estate, as well as coverage of Yellowstone and related shows like 1883 and 1923. He’s interviewed cast members including Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Sam Elliott and Harrison Ford, and Whitaker is also known for his in-depth interviews with country legends including Don Henley, Rodney Crowell, Trace Adkins, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs and more.