Country music star Claude King has died, aged 90.

The singer, who recorded hits like Wolverton Mountain, Big River Big Man and The Commancheros, passed away at his home in Shreveport, Louisiana on Thursday morning (07Mar13).

A former baseball prodigy, King turned to music in the 1950s and became a cast member of local radio show the Louisiana Hayride, where he shared the same stage with artists like George Jones and Elvis Presley.

Between 1961 and 1971, he scored 19 top 40 hits. His biggest, Wolverton Mountain, spent nine weeks at number one on the U.S. Country Songs Chart.