Country star Ed Bruce died at the age of 81.
His publicist, Jeremy Westby, confirmed to Fox News that the singer died on Friday of natural causes at his home in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Bruce was best known for his hit “Moms Don’t Let Your Babies Grow and Become Cowboys”, which he co-wrote with his wife Patsy Bruce. Other notable songs in its catalog include “My First Taste of Texas”, “You are the best that this old heart has ever had” with Lynn Anderson and “The Last Cowboy Song”.
In 1978, “Mammas” earned him a Grammy nomination for best country song.
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“Best Break” spent 21 weeks on the Billboard country song chart when it was released in 1982.
Ed Bruce died at age 81. (Getty Images)
According to Deadline, his music career started when he was 17, working as a recording engineer before making the transition to songwriting and recording.
Several other artists recorded songs he wrote, including Tanya Tucker (“The Man That Turned My Mama On”) and Crystal Gayle (“Restless”).
Willie Nelson covered “Mammas” with Waylon Jennings, and the song became a hit.
Bruce also did his part in acting, according to IMDb.
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His first credited role was a three-episode arc on “The Chisolms” before he landed a lead role in the short series starring James Garner, “Bret Maverick”.
His Hollywood career was largely dominated by western-style projects like “Walker, Texas Ranger” and country music films like “Blue Valley Songbird” starring Dolly Parton and “Country Strong” with Tim McGraw.
Ed Bruce was best known for his hits “Moms don’t let your babies grow and become cowboys” and “You are the best this old heart ever had”. (Photo by David Redfern / Redferns)
He was last seen on the screen in 2014, in “Finding Harmony”.
People magazine reports that Bruce was born in Keizer, Arkansas, and was raised in Memphis.
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His country music contemporaries, the Oak Ridge Boys, posted a photo of Bruce on Twitter and shared a loving tribute.
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“We lost another friend and songwriter today … Rest Easy Ed Bruce … many will remember him for songs like Mama Don’t Let Your Baby’s Grow [Up] To Be Cowboys, but we must remember him for a song called I Know ” they tweeted. “Look for a blessing … Goodbye brother and thanks.”