Country Music Hall of Fame member Carl Smith, one of the genre’s most successful singers and entertainers during the 1950’s, died Saturday (Jan. 16) at his home in Franklin, Tenn. He was 82.

Smith was so long out of the spotlight — enjoying what was for most stars of his generation an early, atypical and genteel retirement — many began to wonder if younger CMA electors would ever induct him into the Country Music Hall of Fame. When they finally did in 2003, Smith’s few seconds back on national TV consisted of a silent smile and wave to his well-deserved standing ovation.

In 1977, the year he turned 50, Smith retired from the grind of recording sessions and personal appearances and thereafter enjoyed life as a gentleman farmer and horse breeder on his ranch. After this, he resolutely avoided contact with the music industry he’d helped to build, in spite of the fact that both his wives and his first child were also well-known entertainers.

He was married to June Carter from 1952 until 1957, and their daughter, Carlene Carter, gained prominence as a singer-songwriter during the late ’70s. His subsequent marriage to country singer Goldie Hill began in September 1957 and lasted until her death in February 2005. Hill was the mother of his last three children, Lorri Lynn, Carl Jr. and Larry Dean, none of whom sought a career as a performer