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Roger Miller born
On this day in 1936, musician Roger Miller was born in Fort Worth. He
had no formal musical training and apparently never learned to read or
write music. After service in the army, during which he entertained
troops in a Special Services country-music band, he moved to Nashville,
where he did odd jobs and played in back-up bands for such entertainers
as Minnie Pearl and Ray Price. After Miller won a contract as a drummer
with the Faron Young organization, other performers began singing his
songs. In 1961 he first made the country top ten as a performer with
"When Two Worlds Collide," co-written with Bill Anderson. He moved to
Hollywood, where his singing career took off in 1964. "Chug-a-lug" and
"Dang Me" were hits in both country and pop categories. The next year
Miller scored a series of bestsellers: "King of the Road," "Engine,
Engine No. 9," "Kansas City Star," and "One Dyin' and a-Buryin'." NBC
featured Miller in his own weekly variety show, which fared well in 1966
but subsequently lost out in the ratings and was cancelled. Miller won
eleven Grammy awards, both as composer and performer, in the categories
of contemporary and country and western. In 1985 he received five Tony
awards for his score to Big River, a musical based on
Huckleberry Finn. He died in Los Angeles on October 25, 1992.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- MILLER, ROGER DEAN
- Links to other Web sites (will be opened in new browser window)
- HANDBOOK OF TEXAS MUSIC
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Western crooner Tex Ritter succumbs in country-music capital (1974)
- Bonnie sculptor born (1890)
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