Country Star George Strait, 71, Mourns Death of 2 'Treasured' Friends Mere Hours Apart

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 30: George Strait performs at the Coal Miner's Daughter: A Celebration Of The Life & Music Of Loretta Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry on October 30, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

George Strait is mourning the deaths of two close music family members this week.

On Wednesday, March 20, the country crooner took to Instagram to share the devastating loss of his manager earlier that day, sharing that the two had been colleagues for 45 years or so but friends for even longer.

"Erv Woolsey passed away this morning," he wrote at the time. "He had complications from a surgery and just couldn’t overcome it. He was a very tough man, and fought hard, but sadly it was just too much. We will miss him so very much and will never forget all the time we had together. Won’t ever be the same without him,” he wrote alongside a photo of the two together.

Little did he know, another of his close friends was losing his battle, too.

The next day, he returned to social media to announce the death of another "treasured" member of his crew, fiddler and mandolinist Gene Elders. He didn't share any information about the musician's cause of death, but confirmed that he passed away in the hours following Woolsey.

"Hard to believe we lost two of our music family members on the same day," he wrote. "All of our prayers go out to both families. Me and the band won’t ever be the same without our brother Gene. We loved him so much. Go play with Mike again Geno. We’ll come join you guys later."

Mike Kennedy was Strait's longtime drummer, who passed away after a car accident in 2018.

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