"He Stopped Loving Her Today" is a song recorded by American country music artist George Jones.
The song was written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman and tells the story of a man whose lover leaves him.
Eventually a day comes when the man, in heavily veiled but graphic language, dies—"all dressed up to go away, first time I'd seen him smile in years" (i.e., in his funeral suit with a rictus grin, as molded on corpses) while "they placed a wreath upon his door and soon they'll carry him away" ("they" being the pallbearers).
His former lover attends the funeral to pay her respects, something his friends were unsure would happen; they conclude that this is indeed when he, now dead, is no longer in love with her, hence the title of the song.
By 1980, Jones had not had a number one single in six years and, due to this and his major downward spiral into drug use following his divorce from Tammy Wynette, many critics began to write him off.
In Bob Allen's biography of the singer, Sherrill states, "He thought it was too long, too sad, too depressing and that nobody would ever play it.
"[6] Sherrill also claims that Jones frustrated him by continually singing the song to the melody of the Kris Kristofferson hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night".
Prior to the second take, Wynette and her husband George Richey appeared in the recording studio though Jones could see them with Sherrill through the tinted screen.
To the astonishment of Jones and most others involved, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" shot to number one on the country charts in July 1980.
[10] In 2007, the 1980 release of the song on Epic Records by George Jones was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.