Country singer George Jones, recovering in a Nashville, Tenn.,

hospital after a serious car accident Saturday, was taken off a

respirator Tuesday. "He's breathing on his own, and he even sat up [in]

a chair briefly," said Wayne Wood, a spokesperson for Vanderbilt Medical

Center. Jones, a country legend famous for such songs as "White

Lightning" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today," remains in critical

condition in the hospital's intensive-care unit.