Country superstar George Strait’s longtime drummer, Mike Kennedy, died in a car accident in Lebanon, Tennessee. Strait’s publicist confirmed the news on Sunday. According to a report by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Kennedy was driving an SUV westbound on Interstate 40 on Thursday when he merged into the right lane of the highway and collided with a tractor-trailer, which in turn collided with a pickup. The 59-year-old Kennedy was not wearing a seat belt, and was killed in the collision. No one else was killed or injured. The longtime musician played drums with Strait for nearly 30 years, first appearing on Strait’s 1992 album, “Holding My Own.” Strait said in a statement on Facebook: “The band will never be the same. A part of us is gone forever. We all loved Mike and will miss him terribly. He was just as solid a friend to us all as he was a drummer, and that was damn solid. Our hearts and prayers are with his family.”
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