Editing Johnny Paycheck (section)

== Personal life ==
Paycheck was married; his wife Sharon Rae<ref name= WPost /> and he had a son, Jonathan.<ref name= faces />

=== Legal troubles ===
In the 1950s, he was court-martialed and imprisoned for two years for assaulting a naval officer.<ref name= WPost />

In 1981, Paycheck was arrested on accusations of statutory rape of a 12-year-old girl in [[Wyoming]].<ref name= faces>{{Cite web|title=Singer Johnny Paycheck faces extradition for sex with minor|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/12/14/Singer-Johnny-Paycheck-faces-extradition-for-sex-with-minor/2478377154000/|access-date=February 19, 2021|website=UPI.com|publisher=[[United Press International]]|language=en|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019034441/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/12/14/Singer-Johnny-Paycheck-faces-extradition-for-sex-with-minor/2478377154000/|url-status=live}}</ref> Members of Paycheck's band told police that the singer had numerous problems with allegations because of his celebrity status. He was released on bond. In 1982, he pled [[no contest]] to continue his touring and not go to trial. The prosecution's witnesses were reluctant to testify.<ref name= faces /> He pleaded down to a misdemeanor<ref>{{Cite web |title=Singer pleads no contest to sexual assault charge |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/15/Singer-pleads-no-contest-to-sexual-assault-charge/2683395553600/ |access-date=February 19, 2021 |website=UPI.com |publisher=United Press International |language=en |archive-date=February 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219090110/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/15/Singer-pleads-no-contest-to-sexual-assault-charge/2683395553600/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and received a $1,000 fine.<ref name= faces /> A $3 million civil suit resulted from the incident,<ref name= faces /> but the case never made it to a court.

In December 1985, Paycheck was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail for shooting a man at the North High Lounge in [[Hillsboro, Ohio]];<ref name= homage /> he had fired a [[.22LR|.22]] pistol, and the bullet grazed the man's head. Paycheck claimed the act was self-defense. After several years spent fighting the sentence, he began serving his sentence in 1989, spending 22 months in prison before being pardoned by Ohio Governor [[Richard Celeste]].<ref>{{cite web| first= Paul W.| last= Dennis| url= http://www.the9513.com/forgotten-artists-donald-lytle-aka-donny-young| title= Forgotten Artists: Donald Lytle, aka Donny Young| website= the9513.com| publisher= | date= March 4, 2010| access-date= | archive-date= March 14, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100314085330/http://www.the9513.com/forgotten-artists-donald-lytle-aka-donny-young/| url-status= dead}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=I heard from fans constantly throughout the entire two years. The letters never stopped, from throughout the world. I looked forward to mail call every day.|author=Johnny Paycheck|source=after his release from prison<ref name= WPost />}}

In 1990, he filed for bankruptcy after tax problems with the [[Internal Revenue Service]], including  a $300,000 lien.<ref name= faces />

=== Health issues and death ===
Although Paycheck was addicted to drugs including alcohol during his career, he later was said to have "put his life in order"<ref>{{cite web| title= Country singer Johnny Paycheck dead at 64| url= http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/19/obit.paycheck.ap/ | url-status= dead| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20031118195332/http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/19/obit.paycheck.ap/ |archivedate= November 18, 2003| website= CNN.com| date= February 19, 2003| access-date= April 5, 2022}}</ref> after his prison stay.

After 2000, his health would only allow for short appearances. Contracting [[emphysema]] and [[asthma]]<ref name= CBS64 /> after a lengthy illness, Paycheck died at [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]]'s [[Vanderbilt University]] Medical Center in 2003, aged 64. He was survived by his son Jonathan Paycheck.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ratliff |first=Ben |date=2003-02-20 |title=Johnny Paycheck Dies at 64; Hard-Living Country Singer |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/20/arts/johnny-paycheck-dies-at-64-hard-living-country-singer.html |access-date=2022-12-23 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126014248/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/20/arts/johnny-paycheck-dies-at-64-hard-living-country-singer.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

He was buried in [[Woodlawn Memorial Park (Nashville, Tennessee)|Woodlawn Memorial Park]] in Nashville; reportedly the plot was paid for by George Jones. Among the roughly 200 attendees at Paycheck’s memorial were Jones, [[Little Jimmy Dickens]], and a sizable grouping contingent of Hell's Angels, admirers of the hard-living Paycheck. "By and large, it was the roughest-looking funeral crowd I have ever seen," a ''Nashville Skyline'' columnist wrote in [[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT]].<ref name="Oxford">{{cite news |last1=Bengal |first1=Rebecca |title=Will the Real Mr. Heartache Please Stand Up and Cry? |url=https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-119-winter-2022/will-the-real-mr-heartache-please-stand-up-and-cry |access-date=7 April 2024 |issue=119 |publisher=Oxford American |date=13 December 2022 |archive-date=April 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407135350/https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-119-winter-2022/will-the-real-mr-heartache-please-stand-up-and-cry |url-status=live }}</ref>