Yeah, legend has it that George had no trouble with the portion of the song he had to sing. But he kept botching the brief, spoken section of the lyrics that are one of the more distinctive parts of “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” The reason? Ol’ Possum was often drunk during the recording sessions. Luckily for him, Billy Sherrill was a patient man.
But you’ve got to give George his due. Still the greatest singer in the history of country music, and that takes in a pretty wide swath of musical history. And he did that despite decades of self-destructive behavior that would have killed a lesser man. Compared to George, Keith Richards is a piker.
Self admittedly he said if you found him sober, he was asleep.
His later years cleared up a bit, after 2003.