Roger Miller Artistfacts

January 2, 1936 - October 25, 1992
Roger Miller was born in Texas and raised in Oklahoma. He wrote very witty songs that he delivered in a country drawl, bringing a clever rural sensibility to songs like "King Of The Road" and "Dang Me," which were big hits in the '60s.
Miller started out as a songwriter. After stint in the US Army, he moved to Nashville and pedaled his songs to various singers; his first song to chart was "Invitation To The Blues" by Ray Price, which went to #92. Country stars such as George Jones and Faron Young also recorded Miller material before he went solo, and Del Shannon hit #2 in the UK with Miller's song "The Swiss Maid."
Miller won a Tony Award for writing the music and lyrics for Big River, a 1984 musical based on Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn. The musical won seven awards, including Best Musical Of The Year.
A lifelong smoker, Miller was just 56 when he died from lung and throat cancer in 1992. He was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995.
He won five Grammy Awards in 1965, mostly for his song "Dang Me," and another six the next year, mostly for "King Of The Road." Those six wins in one night set a record that wasn't broken until 1971 when Paul Simon won seven.
When he started writing songs, it wasn't to express his deepest emotions or to impress girls, it was simply to pass the time. "It all started when I was a small boy," he told NME. "You see, I was an only child and left alone a lot. I trained myself to write songs to pass the time, so I would always have something to do. It has developed from that over the years."
Miller was funny in interviews. Here are two quotes we found:

"A woman's place is in the stove."
Said jokingly to a Los Angeles Times reporter when a group of women were loudly talking nearby during his interview.

"I've been singing so much lately, I sign my name in E-flat."
From Hit Parader in 1966.
Miller was so popular in 1966 that he got his own TV variety show, The Roger Miller Show, on NBC. It was cancelled after one season. The first episode is in the Paley Archive, but the others appear lost.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Eyes Without A FaceBilly Idol

Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face" has a gruesome inspiration. It's based on a 1959 French movie about a surgeon who abducts young women and removes their facial features.

TemptedSqueeze

The Squeeze song "Tempted" is one of their few with lead vocals by Paul Carrack, who sang the Ace song "How Long" and was in Mike + The Mechanics.

FancyIggy Azalea

The video for Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" pays homage to the classic 1995 film Clueless with the rapper playing Cher and featured singer Charli XCX portraying Tai. It was filmed at some of the same locations used in the movie.

NameThe Goo Goo Dolls

"Name" by The Goo Goo Dolls was partly inspired by lead singer John Rzeznik's flirtation with the MTV VJ Kennedy, who didn't want him to tell anyone her real name.

RoyalsLorde

Lorde was 16 years and 11 months old when "Royals" topped the Hot 100. In doing so she became the youngest ever solo artist to write and perform a #1 hit.

Red Red WineUB40

UB40's cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" was a minor hit when first released in 1983, but it went to #1 five years later when radio stations in Phoenix started playing it.