Jerry Jeff Walker Remembered by Country Community

Beloved country musician Jerry Jeff Walker died on Friday, and he is fondly remembered by the community of his peers on social media. According to an obituary published on Legacy.com, Walker died of cancer at a hospital in Austin, Texas. He was 78 years old at the time of his death.

Walker was most well-known as the writer of "Mr. Bojangles," an iconic tune he penned about a man he met while in a jail cell in New Orleans, Louisiana. The song took on a life of its own and was recorded by several big artists, such as Sammy Davis Jr. and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. While he was originally a native New Yorker, Walker opted to settle down in Austin, Texas, in the 1970s. "The mid-'70s in Austin were the busiest, the craziest, the most vivid and intense and productive period of my life," he wrote of the city in his 1999 memoir, Gypsy Songman.

"Greased by drugs and alcohol, I was also raising the pursuit of wildness and weirdness to a fine art," Walker added. "I didn't just burn the candle at both ends, I was also finding new ends to light." Following the news of his death, many fellow country and folk artists have been memorializing the late singer and songwriter. Scroll down to read what they are saying about him.