Keith Richards: 'George Jones has left us ... I can't express the emptiness I feel'

Keith Richards has penned a poignant farewell to George Jones, calling him "pure American music". While thousands convened in Nashville for the country legend's funeral, the Rolling Stone published an open letter to a man he says he "truly loved". "[George] was a crazy as me ... just as free, and, oh boy, could he hang."

"George Jones has left us ... [and] I cannot express the emptiness I feel," Richards wrote in his statement, distributed by a publicist. "You can hear a million imitations on the radio every day – but there was, and ever will be, only one George Jones. He possessed the most touching voice, the most expressive ways of projecting that beautiful instrument of anyone I can call to mind. You heard his heart in every note he sang. Sinatra called him the second-best singer ever. (The number one obviously being Frank!) I would contest that."

Jones died in Nashville on Friday 26 April, two weeks after he was hospitalised for fever and irregular blood pressure. He was 81. The singer had worked with Richards on two recordings, both vocal duets: 1994's Say It's Not You and Burn Your Playhouse Down, released in 2008. Richards was also set to be a surprise guest at Jones's farewell concert, this November. "I'll be there by hook or by crook," the guitarist wrote in a note obtained by The Tennessean. All 15,000 tickets to that show sold out shortly after going on sale.

Fans began lining up on Wednesday for Jones's funeral, held yesterday at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. The speakers were a mixture of friends, family and dignitaries, ranging from Kid Rock and Brad Paisley to Tennessee governor Bill Haslam and former first lady Laura Bush. Randy Travis played Amazing Grace, Tanya Tucker and the Imperials performed The Old Rugged Cross, and Alan Jackson closed the almost-three-hour service with a rendition of Jones's best-known single, He Stopped Loving Her Today.

"[George was] the only singer who could make a five-syllable word ... out of 'church'," said Charlie Daniels, recalling a story by producer Billy Sherrill. "[His] voice was a rowdy Saturday night uproar at a back-street beer joint, the heartbroken wail of the one who wakes up to find the other side of the bed empty, the far-off lonesome whistle of the midnight train, the look in the eyes of a young bride as that ring is placed on her finger, the memories of a half-asleep old man dreaming about the good old days."

After the service had concluded, Jones's casket was brought in a procession to Woodlawn Memorial Park, where he was laid to rest. The singer's band served as pallbearers.

Jones's songs have surged in popularity in the wake of his death, with album sales rising by more than 1,000%, according to Billboard. His 1998 anthology, 16 Biggest Hits, sits at No 42 – the first time Jones has ever risen higher than No 53 on the US album charts.

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