Slim Whitman Dead: ‘Rose Marie’ Country Singer Dies At Age 90 In Florida, Pioneered Country Music In The U.K.

Country singer Slim Whitman has died at the age of 90 in Florida, according to the Associated Press.

Whitman's son-in-law, Roy Beagle, said Whitman died Wednesday due to heart failure. He passed away at Orange Park Medical Center in Orange Park, Fl., surrounded by family.

Slim, whose real name was Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr., started his musical career in the late 1940s. His black mustache and sideburns became his trademark, along with his yodeling.

Later in life, he became known for the seemingly never-ending commercials, such as the one below, that pitched his records to the viewing audience in the 1980s and 1990s anc claimed he had sold more records than Elvis and The Beatles.

Whitman popularized country music in Great Britain. His 1955 track "Rose Marie" was No. 1 on the pop music UK Singles Chart for 11 straight weeks, a record that lasted for 36 years.

According to the AP, "Whitman also encouraged a teen Elvis Presley when the young singer made his professional debut."

Whitman released an album called Twilight on the Trail in 2010, his first new studio LP in 26 years.

Whitman was married to songwriter and embroiderer Alma "Jerry" Crist Whitman for 67 years until she died in 2009 from complications from kidney failure. The two had a daughter named Sharon and a son named Byron K. Whitman, the latter of whom toured and recorded with his father several times.