Conway Twitty, the country and western singer who brought a rich, throaty tone to dozens of steamy ballads over four decades in the music business, died on Saturday at the Cox Medical Center in Springfield, Mo. He was 59.

The cause of death was a ruptured blood vessel in his stomach, hospital officials said. Twitty collapsed on Friday night on his tour bus after a performance in nearby Branson, Mo.

Twitty, whose real name was Harold Jenkins — he was poring over a map one day and noticed the towns of Conway, Ark., and Twitty, Texas — began as a rock ‘n’ roll singer in the 1950s, and his song, Lonely Blue Boy, went gold. His biggest hit, It’s Only Make Believe, hit the top of the pop charts in 1958.

Eventually, Twitty had more than 50 No. 1 songs on the country charts. He specialized in ballads of lost love, with Tight Fittin’ Jeans, Hello Darlin’ and After All the Good is Gone among his biggest hits.

In the early 1970s, Twitty — 5-foot-10 and with his hair still slicked back, ’50s style — had a string of successful duets with Loretta Lynn, including Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man and After the Fire is Gone, for which they won a Grammy in 1971. Since crossing over to country and western, he had released an average of one album every eight months.

Twitty once said, “I like a song that says things a man wants to say and doesn’t know how to say it.”

Despite his early success at rock ‘n’ roll, Twitty’s first love was country music. He was born in Friars Point, Miss., in the delta. His father, a captain of the ferry that crossed the Mississippi to Helena, Ark., knew a few guitar chords, and his grandfather bought him a ukulele when he was 4.

Although he had a country band and a radio show in Helena by the time he was 10 years old, Twitty did not, at first, seriously consider a career as a performer. “I never thought of myself as competing with the country singers I heard on the Grand Ole Opry broadcasts from Nashville,” he said. “I thought I hadn’t lived long enough to sing country music for real.”

For a time, Twitty dreamed of playing center field in the major leagues. He played high school and semi-professional baseball well enough to draw an offer from the Philadelphia Phillies, but a draft notice in 1954 intervened. Sports remained a passion, and Twitty was a part owner of a minor league baseball team, the Nashville Sounds.

After his discharge from the Army, Twitty heard an early Elvis Presley record and changed his mind about a career in music. He formed a group called the Rock Housers, which performed anywhere it could.

The group, renamed the Twitty Birds, began barnstorming the United States and Canada, playing Southern rockabilly with some success. But by 1958, Twitty later recalled: “I had disbanded my rock ‘n’ roll group and was back home in Helena, Ark. We had recorded a song called It’s Only Make Believe, and I was sure it was a hit. But the record had been out for weeks and hadn’t done anything.

“Actually, they were pushing the flip side, I’ll Try,” he said. “Anyway, I had a call from a disc jockey in Columbus, Ohio. He told me I had a smash in that town.” So Twitty called his band back together and began driving toward Columbus.

“I had this orchid-and-white 1957 Mercury, a total lemon from the day I bought it,” Twitty said. “I had lemons painted all over it and ‘Oil Burner’ written on the side in big black letters. Well, we got near Columbus and picked up the station and every second record they were playing was It’s Only Make Believe.”

The song, a throbbing ballad, went on to sell 8 million copies worldwide. Then came appearances on the Perry Como, Dick Clark and Arthur Godfrey television shows.

“A lot of country artists try to cross over to the pop charts, but I’ve already been on the other side of the fence, and I like the side I’m on,” Twitty once said.

Twitty is survived by his wife, Dee; his mother, Velma Jenkins; two daughters, Joni and Kathy, and two sons, Jimmy and Michael, all of whom live in Hendersonville, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville where the family has its home, Twitty City.

TWITTY’S HITS

Conway Twitty’s No. 1 records, with year of release. All are from the Billboard country music charts except for It’s Only Make Believe, which was a No. 1 pop hit:

— It’s Only Make Believe, 1958.

— Next In Line, 1968.

— I Love You More Today, 1969.

— To See My Angel Cry, 1969.

— Hello Darlin’, 1970.

— Fifteen Years Ago, 1970.

— How Much More Can She Stand, 1971.

— (Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date, 1972.

— I Can’t Stop Loving You, 1972.

— She Needs Someone To Hold Her (When She Cries), 1972.

— You’ve Never Been This Far Before, 1973.

— There’s A Honky Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In), 1974.

— I See The Want To In Your Eyes, 1974.

— Linda On My Mind, 1975.

— Touch The Hand, 1975.

— This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me, 1975.

— After All The Good Is Gone, 1976.

— The Games That Daddies Play, 1976.

— I Can’t Believe She Gives It All To Me, 1976.

— Play, Guitar Play, 1977.

— I’ve Already Loved You In My Mind, 1977.

— Don’t Take It Away, 1979.

— I May Never Get To Heaven, 1979.

— Happy Birthday Darlin’, 1979.

— I’d Love To Lay You Down, 1980.

— Rest Your Love On Me, 1981.

— Tight Fittin’ Jeans, 1981.

— Red Neckin’ Love Makin’ Night, 1981.

— The Clown, 1982.

— Slow Hand, 1982.

— The Rose, 1982.

— Somebody Needin’ Somebody, 1984.

— I Don’t Know A Thing About Love (The Moon Song), 1984.

— Ain’t She Somethin’ Else, 1984.

— Don’t Call Him A Cowboy, 1985.

— Desperado Love, 1986.

Duets With Loretta Lynn

— After The Fire Is Gone, 1971.

— Lead Me On, 1971.

— Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man, 1973.

— As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone, 1974.

— Feelins’, 1975.