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Billy Joe Shaver, singer-songwriter and hero of 'outlaw' country, dies at 81 Country music singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, whom  Willie Nelson  once called "the greatest living songwriter," died Wednesday at the age of 81. His friend Connie Nelson said he died Wednesday in his native Texas following a stroke. Shaver rose to acclaim in 1973 with his debut album, "Old Five and Dimers Like Me," and was often referred to as part of  the "outlaw country" movement  of the 1970s along with figures like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, both of whom recorded his songs. Jennings, in fact, recorded 10 songs of Shaver's on one album alone, "Honky Tonk Heroes," released the same year as Shaver's debut. Shaver had previously had his break as a songwriter when Kris Kristofferson discovered him and recorded his song "Good Christian Soldier" on another landmark album, 1971's "The Silver Tongued Devil and I." His songs