Photo: Courtesy Mickey Gilley Enterprises
Mickey Gilley, a country singer known for inspiring the 1980 movieUrban Cowboy, has died. He was 86.
“Just heard that MIKEY GILLEY has just passed away … wow … another singing friend has gone home … Bye Mickey … until the day,” theOak Ridge Boysposted.
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Born March 9, 1936, in Natchez, Mississippi, Gilley grew up with his cousinsJimmy SwaggartandJerry Lee Lewis, the latter of who taught him to play the piano.
His music touched on several genres, including Louisiana rhythm and blues, country-pop, boogie-woogie and gospel. With 17 No. 1 songs throughout his career, Gilley is known for such songs as “Room Full of Roses,” “Lonely Nights” and his cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.”
In 1971, Gilley sparked the urban cowboy movement when he opened his Pasadena honky-tonk Gilley’s, which launched a chain of popular nightclubs. The venue even served as the backdrop forUrban Cowboy, in which Gilley appeared alongsideJohn TravoltaandDebra Winger.
In addition to elevating his music career, the performance also led to a series of onscreen roles in such shows asCHiPs;Fantasy Island; andMurder, She Wrote; as well as the 1994 movieGordy.
Throughout his storied career, Gilley earned six Academy of Country Music Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as being inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
source: people.com
