Table Of Contents

Early Life..... page 4

Louisiana Hayride and early career.... page 7

"Honky-Tonk Man" and later career... page 11

Death... page 16

Legacy.... page 18

Marriages..... page 19

Johnny Horton Net Worth..... page 20

Albums..... page 21

Bonus..... page 23

Early Life

Johnny Horton was born on April 30, 1925 in Los Angeles, California. He is known for being a singer- songwriter and musician. He was the youngest of the five children of the former Ella Claudia Robinson (1892- 1966) and John Loly Horton (1889- 1959), and raised in Rusk in Cherokee Country in East Texas. His family often traveled between east Texas and southern California to work as migrant farmers. After he graduated from high school in Gallatin, Texas, in 1944, Horton attended Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville, Texas, on a basketball scholarship.

He later attended Seattle University and Baylor University in Waco, he didn't graduate from college. Johnny Horton entered the U.S Army in 1940 and attended boot camp at Madison Barracks, Watertown, New York. Johnny Horton fought in seven World War II Battles as a member of the 1st Infantry Division, known as The Big Red One. Horton soon returned to California and got a job in the mail room at Selznick International Pictures, where his future wife, Donna Cook, was working in the studio as a secretary. After a short stint studying geology in Seattle in 1948, 

 Horton moved to Alaska to mine for gold, this is when he started writing songs. Returning south, he entered and won a talent contest in Henderson, Texas. Encouraged by this result, he returned to California to pursue a singing career. His guest appearances on Cliffe Stone's Hometown Jamboree on KXLA-AM and KLAC- TV in Pasadena and his own half- hour show The Singing Fisherman led to the opportunity to record some songs on the Cormac record label. By the time the company folded in 1952, Horton recorded 10 singles for that label. Fabor Robinson, owner of Abbott Records, acquired the master recordings. Around that time, Horton married Donna Cook. 

Louisiana Hayride and early career

By this time Horton was appearing regularly on Louisiana Hayride, so he and Donna moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where the show was recorded.  He also signed a contract with Mercury Records and began recording. His first song with that label, "First Train Headin' South" b/w' (I Wished for an Angel) The Devil Sent Me You (Mercury 6412), received good reviews. He and his new backup band, the Rowley Trio, began touring under the name The Singing Fisherman and the Rowley Trio in 1952,

they eventually changed the name to Johnny Horton & The Roadrunners. The group included Horton as lead singer and Jerry Rowley on fiddle as well Rowley's wife Evelyn on piano and his sister Vera (Dido) on guitars. Johnny Horton's marriage to Donna Cook didn't last very long because of his busy touring schedule and Donna moved back to Los Angeles. They were soon divorced. 

On September 26, 1953, Horton married Billie Jean Jones, widow of country music legend Hank Williams who had died on January 1, 1953. Horton parted ways with the Rowley trio but continued to appear occasionally on Louisiana Hayride. His contract with Mercury expired in late 1954, with his recording of "All for the Love of a Girl" (Mercury 70227) being his bestseller, at 35,000 to 45,000 copies. Horton, himself always an avid fisherman, got a job at the tackle shop and put his music career on hiatus. But by the following year, his new manager and bassist Tillman Franks had obtained Horton a 

one- year contract with Columbia Records. They traveled to Nashville in a borrowed car for their first recording session. Influenced by the work of Elvis Presley, Horton began going to a more Rockabilly style. 

"Honky- Tonk Man" and later career (1956- 1960)

"Honky-Tonk Man" was recorded on January 11, 1956, at the Bradley Film & Recording Studios in Nashville, one of four songs Horton recorded that day. Session musicians on the recording were Grady Martin and Harold Bradley, as well as Bill Black (at the time Presley's bassist). Soon afterwards "Honky- Tonk Man" was released as a single (Columbia label: 4-21504) paired with another song from the same session, "I'm Ready if You're Willing", they went out on tour, with the band featuring Franks on bass

and Tommy Tomlinson on guitar. "Honky- Tonk Man" was reviewed by the March 10 issue of Billboard, which said, "The wine women and song attractions exert a powerful hold on the singer, he admits. The funky sound and pounding beat in the backing suggest the kind of atmosphere he describes. A very good jukebox record. "Their review of "I'm Ready if You're Willing" was also positive: "Horton sings out this cheerful material with amiable personality. This even more popular stylist ought to expand his circle of fans with this one. 

The song peaked at No. 9 on the C&W Jockey chart (now Hot Country Songs) and at No. 14 on the Best Seller chart. Horton returned to the studio on May 23, but the "A" side of his next single, "I'm a One Woman Man" (Columbia 21538), was one of the songs recorded back in January. The "B" side was "I Don't Like I Did". Billboard described "One Woman Man" as a "smart and polished job", and Horton as "signing with a light, airly touch. Guitar work is just as convincing, adding up to listenable, commercial stuff". He and his band toured through the United States and Canada to  

promote the record, which reached No. 7 on the Jockey chart and No. 9 on the Best Seller and Jukebox Charts. "I'm Coming Home" / "I Got A Hole In My Pirogue" (Columbia 40813) was released around this time as well. On February 9, Billboard noted that "not only Southern markets are doing good business with this, but Northern cities report that both country and pop customers are going for this in a big way". It was again a success on the country charts (No. 11 Jockey, No. 15 Best Seller) but it failed to score the popular music charts. 

Johnny Horton later recorded "The Battle Of New Orleans" and it became successful (written by Jimmy Driftwood) he won a Grammy and Johnny became even more popular. It was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded to the Grammy Hall Of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's Songs of the Century. Horton had two other successes in 1960 with "Sink The Bismarck" and "North To Alaska" for John Wayne's movie, North To Alaska.