Mickey Gilley
Mickey Leroy Gilley, born March 9,
1936, grew up in Ferriday, Louisiana, and
is a well-known country music performer
and songwriter. He learned to play the
piano alongside his famous cousins, Jerry
Lee Lewis and Jimmy Lee Swaggart. In the
Ferriday area, "Gilley" is pronounced as
"Jilly," but after Mickey moved to Texas at
age 17, the pronunciation changed. Mickey
recorded 39 Top Ten country hits with 17
of those reaching the number one spot on
country music charts. His recordings,
"Room Full of Roses" in 1974, "Don't the
Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time" in
1976, and"Stand By Me" in 1980 are some
of his best-known hits.
In 1971, Mickey opened the world's
largest "honky tonk," Gilley's Club in
Pasadena, Texas. It served as the setting
for the 1980 movie "Urban Cowboy." The
club remained a busy attraction for locals
and tourists until its closing in the late
1980s. In 1989, when Mickey opened a
brand new club in Branson, Missouri, he
became one of the first country music
superstars to open his own theater there.
The thing Mickey says he loves most is
"getting on stage and performing a good
show for people."