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Songwriter Larry Bastian, Cowriter of Garth Brooks’ ‘Unanswered Prayers,’ Dies at 90

Country music songwriter Larry Bastian has died. He was known for writing songs such as "Rodeo" and "Unanswered Prayers."

Country music songwriter Larry Bastian, known for penning songs including Garth Brooks’ “Unanswered Prayers” and “Rodeo,” died on Sunday (April 6) at age 90, Billboard has confirmed. He has written songs recorded by Merle Haggard and David Frizzell (“Lefty”), Tammy Wynette (“Back to the Wall”), Conway Twitty (“Saturday Night Special”), Tracy Byrd (“Why”) Sammy Kershaw (“If You’re Gonna Walk, I’m Gonna Crawl,” “Yard Sale”), Reba McEntire (“The Girl Who Has Everything”), Rhett Akins (“Somebody Knew”), Moe Bandy (“Nobody Gets Off in This Town”), George Jones (“Forever’s Here to Stay”) and Craig Morgan (“Look at Us”). “This was a song I had written probably six or seven years before I met Garth … it was about a gal lamenting the fact that her guy was in love with the rodeo rather than her,” Bastian wrote in the Brooks anthology.

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