Tributes are pouring in for country music legend George Jones following his death on Friday (26Apr13), with stars including Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, and Sheryl Crow paying their respects to the iconic musician.

The Door hitmaker, fondly dubbed 'The Possum' by his contemporaries, was admitted to a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this month (Apr13) suffering from a fever and irregular blood pressure, but he passed away on Friday (26Apr13).

The tragic news prompted an outpouring of grief from his fellow country stars on microblogging website Twitter.com, with Shelton, who covered Jones' 1990 hit song Ol' Red, writing, "Really Really bad news. We've lost a country music legend. And I've lost a hero and a friend. Goodbye George Jones..."

Urban writes, "If I'm blessed enough to make it there, I look forward to you giving me the grand tour. Rest in peace George Jones!!!!!", Crow tweets, "Such a sad day... May you Rest in Peace George Jones", Tim MCGraw writes, "Gone... George Jones... man he was country music", and LeAnn Rimes adds, "So sad we lost 'the possum' today. R.I.P George Jones and know we didn't stop loving you today. You will live on forever in our hearts."

Faith Hill writes, "We lost one of the best voices God created this morning. Our hearts are saddened to hear that George Jones has passed away," while country star Trace Adkins simply states, "George Jones was my friend, and I loved him", and pregnant singer Chely Wright adds, "George Jones- Rest In Peace What a life. What a career. What a singer. Thinking of (his wife) Nancy and all who loved him."

Singer Brett Eldredge comments, "George Jones was one of the best if not The best country singers to ever sing it! So sad to lose him! Rest in peace Possum!", country star Martina MCBride offers, "So sad to hear about George Jones . His voice and music will be with us forever. Thoughts go out to all his family, friends and fans", and John Rich spoke for all country musicians when he tweeted, "Every serious country artist in the past 30 years has some #georgejones dna in their blood and music. My God. We've lost our Elvis."