Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller Senior, who was born on Thursday, January 2nd, 1936, and died on Sunday, October 25th, 1992, was an American singer and songwriter, who was widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits "King of the Road", "Dang Me", and "England Swings". He grew up in Oklahoma and served in the United States Army, and got to be a songwriter around 1959, and wrote hits like Billy Bayou and Home for Jim Reeves, and Invitation to the Blues for Ray Price. He also recorded songs in the mid 1960's, but he continued to record and tour into the 1990s, and charted his final top country hit Old Friends with Ray and Willie Nelson in 1982. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Tony Award winning musical Big River, in which he acted. On Sunday, October 25th, 1992, Roger died from lung cancer. His songs were Tall, Tall Trees by Allan Jackson and Husband and Wives, from Brooks and Dunn, as set in the 1990s. The Roger Miller Museum, which was now closed, in his hometown of Erick, Oklahoma, was a tribute to this man.