P3. Celebrated country music singer, dies at 79

Kinky Friedman, the country singer-songwriter known for songs like “Sold American” and his quick wit in his writings, interviews and beyond, has died. He was 79.

Friedman died Thursday at his ranch in Medina, Texas, after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.

“Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & friends,” a statement posted to X read. “Kinkster endured tremendous pain & unthinkable loss in recent years, but he never lost his fighting spirit and quick wit. Kinky will live on as his books are read and his songs are sung.”

His estate also posted a sweet excerpt from one of his 1993 columns about his love for animals: “They say when you die and go to heaven all the dogs and cats you’ve ever had in your life come running to meet you.”

Friedman’s best known album was 1973’s Sold American, which featured the title track as well as “High on Jesus” and “The Ballad of Charles Whitman.”

He had a humor-filled campaign to run for Texas governor in 2006. “How hard can it be?’ was his slogan. Despite being a long shot, he garnered almost 13 percent of the vote.

Chicago-born, Texas-raised Richard Samet Friedman also wrote a popular column at Texas Monthly and released a series of successful novels, including 1986’s Greenwich Killing Time, 1987’s A Case of Lone Star, 1988’s When the Cat’s Away and, most recently, 2008’s What Would Kinky Do? How to Unscrew a Screwed Up World.