Mickey Gilley

Country singer Mickey Gilley, best known as the pioneer of the "urban cowboy" style, died Saturday in Branson, Missouri, his publicist Zach Farnum said.

Gilley was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984. "We just lost a great human being," Brown said. starting with "Room Full of Roses" in 1974.

NEW YORK (AP) — Country star Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas honky-tonk inspired the 1980 film “Urban Cowboy” and a nationwide wave of Western-themed ...

Like Lewis, he would sneak into the windows of Louisiana clubs to listen to rhythm and blues. “I thank John Travolta every night before bed for keeping my career alive,” Gilley told the AP in 2002. Gilley had suffered health problems in recent years. In recent years, Gilley moved to Branson. Gilley — cousin of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis — opened Gilley’s, “the world’s largest honky tonk,” in Pasadena, Texas, in the early 1970s. Overall, he had 39 Top 10 country hits and 17 No. 1 songs.

Mickey Gilley -- a mega country star in the '70s and '80s -- has died ... this according to his own Texas community, which officially made the announcement.

Our prayers for comfort and peace are with Mickey's family, his loved ones and his fans." Mickey was a true musical talent who charted 42 singles in the Top 40 Country Charts over a span of two decades." Jeff Wagner writes, "It was my great honor to know this man most of my life. The guy also had some of his own music in the film, including his rendition of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me," which became a smash hit at the time ... peaking at #1 on Billboard's Country chart, and even climbing other charts as well. Wagner went on to give a nod to Gilley for putting Pasadena on the map via the John Travolta flick, "Urban Cowboy," and added ... "We were so honored to have Mickey perform at our State of the City in February, 2020. Mickey Gilley -- a mega country star in the '70s and '80s -- has died ... this according to his own Texas community, which officially made the announcement.

Country singer Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas-sized honky-tonk bar was the birthplace of the "Urban Cowboy" music and fashion fads of the 1980s, ...

He later appeared in television shows such as "Murder She Wrote," "Fantasy Island" and "The Dukes of Hazzard." After therapy he returned to singing in Branson but was unable to play the piano. Gilley rebounded by becoming a regular performer in the country music hotbed of Branson, Missouri, where he built a theater. Big Western hats, snap-button shirts and boots began to appear not just on the streets of Houston and Dallas but New York, San Francisco and Chicago. A native of Natchez, Mississippi, Gilley grew up in Ferriday, Louisiana, son of Arthur Fillmore Gilley and Irene (Lewis) Gilley, who taught him to play piano. It billed itself as the world's biggest honky tonk and also featured the mechanical bucking bull on which cowboys, cowgirls and wannabes could test their rodeo skills.

Country star Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas honky-tonk inspired the 1980 film “Urban Cowboy” and a nationwide wave of Western-themed nightspots, ...

Like Lewis, he would sneak into the windows of Louisiana clubs to listen to rhythm and blues. “I thank John Travolta every night before bed for keeping my career alive,” Gilley told the AP in 2002. Gilley had suffered health problems in recent years. In recent years, Gilley moved to Branson. Gilley — cousin of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis — opened Gilley’s, “the world’s largest honky tonk,” in Pasadena, Texas, in the early 1970s. Overall, he had 39 Top 10 country hits and 17 No. 1 songs.

The Country Western community lost a legend regarding the death of Mickey Gilley who died on Saturday, sources say.

“We were so honored to have Mickey perform at our State of the City in February, 2020. Our prayers for comfort and peace are with Mickey’s family, his loved ones and his fans.” According to Gilleys.com, the singer was born on March 9, 1936, in Natchez, Mississippi. His biography says he grew up in Louisiana where he learned the sounds of rhythm and blues by sneaking up to the windows of the clubs at night.

'He passed peacefully with his family and close friends by his side,' read a statement.

He eventually found his place in country music, and the popularity of Gilley’s made him a superstar. Gilley earned numerous honors throughout his career, including six ACM Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and induction into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. Gilley's last album, "Two Old Cats," was released in 2018. "And it makes sense to me. All I recall is it was the ride of my life.” "I lost the use of my hands when I fell, and like to have broke my neck, so I can't play piano anymore.” "It was my great honor to know this man most of my life," Wagner wrote. A conversation about recording a couple of songs just for fun eventually became the “Two Old Cats” album. Jeff Wagner, Mayor of Pasadena, wrote on Facebook that "Pasadena has lost a true legend." His music was originally inspired by Louisiana's rhythm and blues, but much of it had a polished, countrypolitan sound. Gilley, despite his advanced age and share of mishaps, continued to make appearances. It inspired the movie "Urban Cowboy" and took country music to new heights of popularity. He played himself in the 1980 film starring John Travolta and Debra Winger.

Country singer Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas-sized honky-tonk bar was the birthplace of the “Urban Cowboy” music and fashion fads of the 1980s, ...

After therapy he returned to singing in Branson but was unable to play the piano. Gilley rebounded by becoming a regular performer in the country music hotbed of Branson, Missouri, where he built a theater. He later appeared in television shows such as “Murder She Wrote,” “Fantasy Island” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Big Western hats, snap-button shirts and boots began to appear not just on the streets of Houston and Dallas but New York, San Francisco and Chicago. It billed itself as the world’s biggest honky tonk and also featured the mechanical bucking bull on which cowboys, cowgirls and wannabes could test their rodeo skills. A native of Natchez, Mississippi, Gilley grew up in Ferriday, Louisiana, son of Arthur Fillmore Gilley and Irene (Lewis) Gilley, who taught him to play piano.

PASADENA, Texas (KLTV) - Country music legend Mickey Gilley has died, according to Pasadena Mayor Jeff Wagner. KTRK in Houston reported that Gilley died at ...

“Gilley says ‘Gilley’s; The World’s Biggest Honkey Tonk’ was the turning point in his career,” a previous East Texas News story stated. At the time of the interview with Hallmark, Gilley was recovering from a fall that paralyzed him. That year, KLTV’s Joan Hallmark interviewed the country music legend for her Proud of East Texas series. “We were so honored to have Mickey perform at our State of the City in February 2020.” Gilley had been dealing with health issues before his death. It was my great honor to know this man most of my life.”

Mr. Gilley, who had more than 30 chart-topping records, owned a Texas nightclub that was behind a country music revival.

The mechanical bull was certainly a major draw at Gilley’s, but Mr. Gilley always made it clear that it was not his idea. No longer a presence on the country charts, he also marketed his own brand of beer and made cameos in prime-time television shows like “The Fall Guy” and “Fantasy Island.” “It was never meant to be in a nightclub.” Although he was unable to play the piano again, he otherwise recovered and resumed singing in public well into his 80s. Mr. Gilley closed the honky-tonk in 1989, a year before a fire destroyed much of the building. Well into his 30s before he had his first hit, and over 40 when his nightclub achieved widespread acclaim, Mr. Gilley was something of a late bloomer. He was married to Vivian McDonald from 1962 until her death in 2019. His first recording to reach the charts, “Is It Wrong (For Loving You),” in 1959, featured the future star Kenny Rogers on bass guitar. But it worked because of what it represented — country music and the cowboy image.” Gilley’s and the scene that coalesced around it also brought country music newfound crossover success with adult contemporary radio. He placed 34 records in the country Top Ten during his two decades on the charts. Among the hall’s main attractions was its mechanical bull, a repurposed piece of rodeo-training equipment on which the club’s more intrepid patrons vied to see who could ride the longest before being thrown off.

He had 17 No. 1 country hits, and his nightclub in Texas was the inspiration for the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy."

“I thank John Travolta every night before bed for keeping my career alive,” Mr. Gilley told the Associated Press in 2002. Mr. Gilley began performing in the 1950s but found little success before opening opened Gilley’s, “the world’s largest honky tonk,” in Pasadena, Tex., in the early 1970s. His Texas nightclub shut down in 1989 and was destroyed by fire soon afterward. Mickey Leroy Gilley was born March 9, 1936, in Natchez, Miss. He grew up across the Mississippi River from Ferriday, La., where he learned to play boogie-woogie piano and sing with his cousins, rock-and-roll star Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart, the future evangelist. The soundtrack included such hits as Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ for Love,” Boz Scaggs’s “Look What You’ve Done to Me” and Mr. Gilley’s “Stand by Me.” The movie turned the Pasadena club into an overnight tourist draw and popularized pearl snap shirts, longneck beers, the steel guitar and mechanical bulls across the country. Such hit songs as “Stand By Me” and “Lonely Nights” created a bridge from the artist’s country roots to an ascension on pop charts and were credited with popularizing the Urban Cowboy movement.

Mickey Gilley, a musician who scored more than three dozen top-10 country hits and whose honky-tonk club inspired the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy" and the ...

People go to the music show, they go fishing; it’s one of the most beautiful areas in the country.” ... It was the first time you could walk into a casino in Las Vegas or Reno or Lake Tahoe or Atlantic City and see guys in cowboy hats.” “Branson is the most amazing and exciting thing that’s happened to me in my lifetime,” Gilley told The Times in 1994. “Everyone became a cowboy or cowgirl,” Gilley recalled to The Times later. “The only reason I got into the music industry was because of Jerry Lee,” Gilley told The Times in 1994. “I saw what he was doing, and since I played piano and sang, I thought all I had to do was cut a record and I’m a star.