Grammy Award-winning country music performer, Jerry Reed, known as "The Guitar Man" of country music who also starred in movies like "Smokey and the Bandit," has passed away Monday from complications from emphysema. He was 71.

"He's one of the greatest entertainers in the world. That's the way I feel about him," his longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed said, confirming that Reed died at his home in Brentwood, just outside Nashville, after a prolonged battle with emphysema.

"He was still recording right up until he couldn't any more," Moore-Reed, who is not related, said Tuesday. "He had been ill for some time." He had recently been cared for in a hospice, Country Music Television in Nashville reported.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Reed, who started his career when he was just 18 and released more than 40 albums, was brought to Hollywood by Burt Reynolds to co-star in "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings" in 1975. The two then appeared together in all three "Smokey and the Bandit" movies. He also wrote a huge hit song for the flick, "East Bound and Down."

"To this day, kids follow me down the street talking about those movies. They see the reruns on Saturday afternoons," Reed said in 1999. "The pictures gave me an [image] that kept me out there long after the music industry wasn't interested any more."

Reed did sporadic acting on television in the 1980s and most recently appeared as a football coach in 1998's "The Waterboy," alongside Adam Sandler, but more importantly, Reed and Kris Kristofferson paved the way for Nashville music personalities to make inroads into films. Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers (TV movies) followed their lead.

"I went around the corner to motion pictures," he said in a 1992 AP interview.

Before his movie career took off, Reed, a dynamic virtuoso, had made a name for himself as one of the most sought-after guitarists in Nashville, a songwriter who wrote hits for Elvis Presley, including "Guitar Man" and "U.S. Male," Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee and many others.

He became a regular on "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" TV show in 1970 and was prolific generator of albums throughout the decade; 14 of his LPs landed in the country top 30 between 1970 and '77.

"The general population might recognize him most as Snowman in the 'Smokey' films, but they should be aware of so many important contributions he made in music," Michael Gray, museum editor for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, said Tuesday.

Aside from his "When You're Hot," Reed had two other country chart-toppers, "Lord, Mr. Ford" in 1973 and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)" in 1982. He had three singles hit No. 2: "(I'm Just a Redneck) in a Rock 'n' Roll Bar" and "East Bound and Down" in 1977 and "The Bird" in 1982." Overall, he placed 57 hits on the country charts between 1967 and 1983, with most of them worthy of being called "novelty songs."