BOISE, Idaho — On Tuesday, June 29, Pinto Bennett, one of Idaho's icons of the music industry, passed away at the age of 73.
Bennett, the self-described honky-tonk hero of Idaho, played what he and others called "hard country" for more than a generation.
Six years ago, KTVB spoke with the music legend in his recording studio in Garden City.
The son of a sheep farmer in Elmore County knew early on where he would end up.
"I mean, I knew that when I was 9 years old, you know, I knew what I was going to do," he told KTVB. "Elvis, man, Elvis changed my life. The first song I played in front of people? 'It's Only Make Believe.'"
Bennett made $17 to play his first gig in Mountain Home, back when he was in junior high school.
Soon after, Bennett was making a thousand dollars a week as a member of "Tarwater" in the 1970s.
"If I didn't have so many bad habits, I probably could have sent my kids to Stanford," Bennett quipped.
In the 1980s, Bennett formed the "The Famous Motel Cowboys," but the famous part only came true when a friend in Europe called and told them that a radio station was playing their record.
The band flew to Europe and found a steady gig for the better part of two decades.
"Wherever we went, we were treated like stars and that was good enough for me," Bennett recalled.
However, fame in Europe didn't translate well in the States. So at the age of 68, the father of four and grandfather of seven, called it a career and settled into semi-retirement.
Bennett had a list of health issues in his later years. He survived four heart attacks, went blind in his right eye and suffered from diabetes and vertigo. Bennett also contracted COVID-19 last October.
According to his daughter, his passing was sudden.
Editor's Note: Watch the video above for the full story.
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