Beloved country musician Tommy Detamore dead at 70

Country music star Tommy Detamore died on Wednesday. He was 70.

Tommy’s wife, Sandra, revealed his “sudden” passing in a Facebook post on Thursday.

“Tommy was and will always be remembered as a respected musician, producer, collaborator, mentor, and creative force in Country Music,” Sandra wrote, calling Tommy “the love my life.”

Sandra said Tommy’s career “has and will always leave a lasting mark in the country music community,” noting that his talents “allowed him to lift others up and help shape the sound of country music we hear today.”

The grieving widow told fans her and her son, Thomas, “take comfort” in knowing Tommy “is at peace and that his music will live on forever.”

“Please continue to pray for me and my family and our Drama Kids Staff as we figure out how to honor my beloved ‘Steelman’ I want to make sure he is celebrated with family and friends and the community,” Sandra continued. “This way we can all say our goodbyes, since this was so sudden.”

At the end of her post, Sandra thanked God “for allowing me to love and be loved by Tommy.”

“I know where he is and I thank you and one day I too will be with him again in our mansion in the sky,” she concluded.

Sandra also shared photos of Tommy alone and with his wife and son in her post.

She did not reveal Tommy’s cause of death.

Tommy grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, and started playing guitar in high school, according to SavingCountryMusic.com

His career breakthrough came when he moved to Texas to play steel guitar for Darrell McCall in 1981.

The next year, Tommy became the mainstay steel guitar player for Moe Bandy, who he toured with for seven years at famous venues like the Grand Ole Opry.

He was named a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.

Some of the artists Tommy worked with include Jim Lauderdale, Micky Dolenz, Dallas Wayne, Doug Sahm, Augie Myers and The Texas Tornados.

In the later years of his music career, Tommy focused more on engineering and producing.