A songwriter, singer, guitarist, fiddler, drummer, TV star, humorist, honky-tonk man, Broadway composer, and perhaps above all else, one of the wittiest personalities in country music – Roger Miller was all of these and more. Over the course of his wildly successful four-decade long career, Country Music Hall of Famer, Roger Miller, recorded and released hundreds of songs across 19 studio albums, including a remarkable 52 singles. Best known for his chart-topping hits “King of the Road,” “Dang Me,” “Chug-A-Lug” and “England Swings” from the mid-1960s Nashville sound era, Miller released his debut album, Roger And Out, in 1964 on Smash Records after several years of playing with, and becoming a hit songwriter for country greats like George Jones, Jimmy Dean, Ray Price, Ernest Tubb, and Faron Young, along with releasing a dozen singles of his own. On the strength of the back-to-back hits “Dang Me” and “Chug-A-Lug,” the album was a smash and set the stage for a peerless career that included 11 Grammy Awards, two Tony Awards, Academy of Country Music’s Pioneer Award, multiple hit records, several movie soundtracks, a television show, induction into Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and so much more.
Known for his chart-topping hits “King of the Road,” “Dang Me,” “Chug-A-Lug” and “England Swings,” all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound era, Miller continued to record and tour internationally into the 1990s, charting his final top 20 country hit “Old Friends” with Ray Price and Willie Nelson in 1982.
With a diverse career spanning beyond music, he was the first artist to have his own prime time variety show, “The Roger Miller Show,” which aired on NBC from 1966-1967. Miller also wrote and performed several of the songs from the 1973 Disney animated film “Robin Hood.” Later in his life, he wrote the music and lyrics for the 1985 seven Tony Award−winning Broadway musical “Big River,” in which he also acted.
Miller died on October 25, 1992, at the age of 56. In 1995, he was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Revered by his peers and recognized as a standard bearer by the generations of singer/songwriters to follow him, his legacy stands the test of time. His hits continue to be re-recorded in homage, including Alan Jackson with “Tall, Tall, Trees” and Brooks & Dunn recording “Husbands and Wives.”
To honor Miller’s life, legacy, and timeless music, Capitol Nashville/UMe will be making several of his classic albums originally released on Smash Records, Mercury Records, and MCA Records available digitally for streaming and download for the first time ever. Beginning today, Friday, May 27th, three albums will be released once a month throughout August, starting with 1970’s A Trip In Country, Miller’s recordings of hit country songs he wrote for George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Ray Price and others; 1979’s Making A Name For Myself, featuring his single “The Hat” which he memorably performed on “The Muppet Show,” and 1985’s eponymous Roger Miller, featuring his recording of “River In The Rain” which he wrote for the seven Tony Award-winning play, “Big River;” and his last-ever single, “Some Hearts Get All The Breaks.”
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