Singer-songwriter David Olney dies on stage during performance at Florida festival

Singer-songwriter David Olney has died at age 71, after falling silent and dropping his head in the midst of a performance at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, Saturday night.

Some news reports said he "collapsed" on stage, but that isn't quite true: Olney simply became still on his stool, leading some audience members and even the musicians beside him to think he was simply taking a pause, before they realized what had happened and lowered him to the stage.

Olney was a revered figure in the folk-rock and Americana communities who had recorded 20 albums of his own as well as having his songs covered by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Del McCoury and his former roommate Steve Earle.

The late Townes Van Zandt famously said of Olney: "Any time anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are... I say Mozart, Lightnin Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I've ever heard — and that's true. I mean that from my heart."

At: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/singer-songwriter-david-olney-dies-onstage-during-performance-florida-festival-n1118611

David Olney, 1948-2020, performing just hours before passing away during a Florida concert last night.