John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 - January 1, 1997), better known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American singer-songwriter. He is widely held in high regard for his poetic, often heroically sad songs. In 1983, six years after Emmylou Harris had first popularized it, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered his song "Pancho and Lefty", reaching number one on the Billboard country music chart. Much of his life was spent touring various dive bars, often living in cheap motel rooms and backwoods cabins.

Van Zandt married Fran Petters on August 26, 1965; a son, John Townes "J.T." Van Zandt II, was born to them on April 11, 1969, in Houston. The couple divorced on January 16, 1970. She would later remarry, changing her last name to Lohr. He began dating Cindy Morgan in 1974 and married her in 1978. Townes and Cindy became estranged for much of the early 1980s, and were divorced on February 10, 1983, in Travis County, Texas. They had no children together. Van Zandt's third and final marriage was to Jeanene Munsell (born February 21, 1957). They met on December 9, 1980 at a memorial for John Lennon. When the terminally-ill Dorothy Van Zandt learned that her son had impregnated Munsell, she told him, "You're going to do the right thing and honor that baby." He soon divorced his estranged second wife and married Munsell on March 14, 1983; their first child, William Vincent, was born ten days later. Another child, Katie Belle, was born February 14, 1992. Van Zandt and Munsell were divorced on May 2, 1994. However, the two remained close until Townes' death, and Jeanene was an executrix of his estate. Around the time of their April 1993 separation, Jeanene coaxed the musician into signing over the publishing rights of his entire back catalog and recording royalties to her and their children. Townes's only source of income after this point was money received from concert engagements, and even then, Townes would frequently visit his ex-wife and "give her all the money in his pockets." Following their divorce in 1994, his only worldly possessions were listed as a 1989 GMC Truck with camper shell, a 1984 Honda Shadow motorcycle and a 1983 Starwind 22-foot boat named Dorothy; he also retained sole ownership of his family inheritance of "ownership in oil lease and mineral rights." At the time of his death, he had begun a long-distance relationship with a woman named Claudia Winterer from Darmstadt, Germany. The two met in November 1995 during a concert of his in Hanau, Germany. Van Zandt told several friends that he planned on marrying Winterer, but the two never became formally engaged.

Did he have any children with Munsell?
William Vincent, was born ten days later. Another child, Katie Belle,