Ray Price still alive according to reports from his wife

Country music fans shouldn't commence mourning just yet, but they also shouldn't expect any good news to come from the home of legendary performer Ray Price either. Price's wife, Janie, contradicted reports from Sunday evening that her husband had succumbed to pancreatic cancer, but her tone didn't suggest that we should expect a recovery soon. Price has been under hospice care at his home in Mount Pleasant, TX since last Thursday.

"Our lovable Ray Price is still with us," Janie wrote on her Facebook page. "When it is the time, there will be an official statement."

Cliff Price, son of the performer, indicated Sunday on his own Facebook page that his father had passed, which set off the initial wave of reports from music publications. However, Cliff was not at the family home when he posted his report, and there's been no explanation as to why he made the post.

Ray Price found popular success after moving to Nashville during the '50s, where he lived briefly with Hank Williams. After Williams died at the age of 29, Price managed his friends band, the Drifting Cowboys, with some success, before founding his own touring group, the Cherokee Cowboys.

The performer was most well known for his distinct baritone voice, as well as the "Ray Price Shuffle," a style that involved a 4/4 honky-tonk format coupled with a "walking" bassline. Price was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during 1996, but the performer continued to tour well into his '80s.

This story was published at 10:45 EST.