David Briggs

David Briggs, a musician who helped reshape the music scene in both Muscle Shoals, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee, died April 22, 2025, of renal cancer in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 82.

Briggs was a rare musician who not only helped shape an entire music scene; he did so twice. In the 1960s, he was a session keyboardist at Fame Recording Studios in Alabama, playing on classic R&B records of the era and helping to make Muscle Shoals, Alabama a recording destination that has drawn artists like Percy Sledge (1940–2015), Aretha Franklin (1942–2018), Wilson Pickett (1941–2006), Otis Redding (1941–1967), and others. When Briggs moved to Nashville, which was already a thriving center for country music, he and fellow session musicians Norbert Putnam and Jerry Carrigan (1943– 2019) helped bring a clean, catchy sound to country, reshaping what is considered the "Nashville sound" in the process. Over the years, he worked with artists such as Elvis Presley (1935–1977), Dean Martin (1917–1995), Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings (1937–2002), Kris Kristofferson (1936–2024), and many others. Briggs is in both the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

On Facebook, musician and producer Greg Hudik fondly remembered recording sessions with Briggs. "Briggs being my close friend, he co-produced, charted and played on most of my records, never once charging me a dime other than a buddy deal on my studio time for the engineer," he said. "Briggs was always protective for songwriters and their rights to their copyrights. He gave back all of his writers that he published [their] publishing back on huge hits, what a huge heart … My heart breaks today knowing that one of the coolest of the Nashville Cats has left the building. My prayers go out to your family for strength and healing. I'll see you in heaven buddy."

By Eric San Juan

(Image: Jason Davis/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)