Roger Miller (Talking about the connection between pop and country music) "Pop derives from popular. And popular applies to the masses, and the masses rhymes with molasses, and that means country." (on songwriting) "I start with a catch phrase or an idea and then sometimes the bridge of the song will come first before I even know what the idea's about, other times the song is halfway through before I know what the song's about, and sometimes the story will change halfway through. I'll take the first line and I'll sing it, like running up to a wall, and just before I hit that wall the second line will come to me, by forcing myself to sing it. Eventually I find I've gotten the wall to move enough to show me the whole song." Birth Name: Roger Dean Miller Induction Year: 1973 Date of Birth: 01/02/1936 Place of Birth: Fort Worth, TX Date of Death: 10/25/1992 Former Occupations: ranch hand fireman bellhop Education: High School--Erick (OK) High School Career Milestones: 1941--wrote first song at the age of five 1957--auditioned for Chet Atkins at RCA 1957--moved to Nashville 1957--signed exclusive songwriting contract with Tree Publishing Company 1957--first cut as a songwriter, "Happy Child" performed by Jimmy Dean 1957--first record cut, George Jones' "Tall Tall Trees" 1958--first major cut, "Invitation to the Blues" recorded by Ray Price 1960--signed with RCA Records and cut first record, "You Don't Want My Love" b/w "Footprints in the Snow" 1961--first top-10 country hit, "When Two Worlds Collide" 1964--signed exclusive recording contract with Smash Records 1965--"King of the Road' topped one million in sales 1966--"The Roger Miller Show" debuted on NBC television 1982--recorded an album with Willie Nelson featuring the single "Old Friends" on which Willie and Roger were joined by Ray Price 1982--made a rare appearance at NYC's Lone Star Cafe where he was heard by Broadway producer and long-time fan Rocco Landesman, who recruited Miller to write the score for the musical "Big River," based on Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" 1985--opening of "Big River" on Broadway (NYC); went on to win seven Tony Awards, including best musical and best score; original cast album was the first of its type ever recorded in Nashville; he briefly played the role of Pap in the Broadway production and in a national tour of the musical Awards: 1964--Grammy\Best Country Song\Dang Me 1964--Grammy\Best New Country and Western Artist 1964--Grammy\Best Country and Western Recording, Single\Dang Me 1964--Grammy\Best Country and Western Performance, Male\Dang Me 1964--Grammy\Best Country and Western Album\Dang Me/Chug-a-Lug 1965--Jukebox Artist of the Year 1965--Grammy\Best Country Song\King of the Road 1965--Grammy\Best Country Vocal Performance, Male\King of the Road 1965--Grammy\Best Country and Western Recording, Single\King of the Road 1965--Grammy\Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male\King of the Road 1965--Grammy\Best Contemporary (Rock 'N Roll), Single\King of the Road 1965--Grammy\Best Country and Western Album\The Return of Roger Miller 1965--Academy of Country and Western Music\Best Songwriter\first awards ceremony 1965--Academy of Country and Western Music\Man of the Year\first awards ceremony 1985--Tony\Best Score\Big River\show won seven awards in all, including Best Musical 1988--Academy of Country Music\Pioneer Award 1995--Country Music Hall of Fame induction   Catalog Highlights King of the Road Artists: Roger Miller (1965) Dang Me Artists: Roger Miller (1964) Chug-a-Lug Artists: Roger Miller (1964) Engine Engine Number Nine Artists: Roger Miller (1965) In the Summer Time Artists: Andy Williams Do-Wacka-Do Artists: Roger Miller (1964) You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd Artists: Roger Miller (1966) Don't We All Have the Right Artists: Roger Miller (1970), Ricky Van Shelton (1988) Atta Boy, Girl Artists: Roger Miller England Swings Artists: Roger Miller (1965) When Two Worlds Collide Co-writer: Bill Anderson Artists: Roger Miller (1961), Jim Reeves (1969), Jerry Lee Lewis (1980) My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died Artists: Roger Miller (1966) Walkin' Talkin' Cryin' Barely Beatin' Broken Heart Co-writer: Justin Tubb Artists: Johnny Wright (1964), Highway 101 (1990) It Only Hurts When I Cry Co-writer: Dwight Yoakam Artists: Dwight Yoakam (1992) Husbands and Wives Artists: Roger Miller (1966), David Frizzell & Shelly West (1981) Comments: Has won a total of 11 Grammys, a platinum single, six gold singles, and five gold albums Miller's domination of the Grammys was so pronounced that the rules were changed to prevent such domination of the awards in the future Has earned 22 BMI citations Received a BMI 3 million performance award for "King of the Road" and  BMI 1 million performance awards for "Don't We All Have the Right" and "It Only Hurts When I Cry"