Микки Гиллей: Американдық кантри жұлдызының өмірі мен мансабы

American singer musician (1936–2022)

Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as well. Among his biggest hits are "Room Full of Roses", "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time", and the remake of the Soul hit "Stand by Me". Gilley charted 42 singles in the top 40 on the US Country chart. He was a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl McVoy, and Jimmy Swaggart.

Gilley was born to Arthur Fillmore Gilley (November 27, 1897 – February 2, 1982) and Irene Gilley ( Lewis; September 11, 1900 – August 14, 1985) in Natchez, Mississippi. For many years, Gilley lived in the shadow of his well known cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, a successful rock and roll singer and musician in the 1950s and early 1960s. Gilley grew up in Louisiana, just across the Mississippi River from where Lewis grew up. Gilley's family moved to the east side of Houston, Texas, in the 1940s, where he attended Galena Park High School. He was primarily a guitarist at the time and took his guitar to school to entertain classmates. Gilley, Lewis, and their cousin, Jimmy Swaggart, played together as children. Lewis taught them his piano style. They sang both boogie woogie and gospel music, but Gilley did not become a professional singer until Lewis hit the top of the charts in the 1950s. Gilley then cut a few singles and played sessions in New Orleans with producer Huey P. Meaux. His record "Call Me Shorty" on the Dot label sold well in 1958. In the 1960s, he played at many clubs and bars, gaining a following at the Nesadel Club in Pasadena, Texas. Paula Records released Gilley's first album, Down the Line, in 1967. He had a minor hit from the album called "Now I Can Live Again". and the rodeo arena portion was razed in 2005 to make way for a school.

In 1974, Gilley recorded a song that originally was only supposed to be recorded for fun, titled "Room Full of Roses", written by Tim Spencer of the Sons of the Pioneers, which was a one time hit for George Morgan.

By 1980, Gilley decided to come up with a new sound, to bring him the country crossover success that so many other country singers (including Eddie Rabbitt, Juice Newton, Kenny Rogers, and Dolly Parton) were experiencing at the time. His career was given a second go around when one of his recordings was featured in the box office selling film Urban Cowboy. Gilley also appeared on "Urban Cowboys", episode 9 in the third season of American Pickers, which aired originally on September 5, 2011. In 2012, Gilley signed a Branson based vocal group, Six, to a three year lease to perform in his theater, with an option to buy it when the contract expired. Gilley returned to the studio in 2017 and released Kickin' It Down the Road the same year. The CD contains several new recordings and several remakes of classic songs originally recorded by him. In 2018, Gilley teamed up with longtime friend Troy Payne to record his last studio album Two Old Cats, a CD containing 13 classic country duets.

Gilley's first wife was Geraldine Garrett, whom he married in 1953 (when he was 17 years old); they divorced in 1961. She was the mother of three of his four children (Keith Ray, Michael, and Kathy). She died on March 6, 2010. Gilley's second wife, whom he married in 1962, was Vivian McDonald. Together they had a son, Gregory (1966–2022). She died in 2019. Gilley died on May 7, 2022, of complications from bone cancer.

For his contribution to the recording industry, Mickey Gilley has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6930 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. On March 2, 2002, Gilley, along with his two famous cousins Lewis and Swaggart, was inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday, Louisiana. In 2017, Gilley was awarded the Key to the City of Winchester, Virginia, by the Hon. David Smith at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music's Ohrstrom Bryant Theatre at Bonnie Blue's Roadhouse Classic Concert. In 2020, a road in Pasadena, Texas, was renamed in his honor as Mickey Gilley Boulevard. Gilley's Dallas, an entertainment complex in Dallas, Texas, is named for Gilley.

Gilley was a licensed pilot, holding an instrument rating with commercial pilot privileges for multi engine airplanes, as well as private pilot privileges for single engine aircraft.

The "Gilley" was first organized in 2009 by a group of urban cowboys brought together by their love for golf, country music, and rhinestone shirts. After stints in Branson, Missouri (also known as "The Town that Mickey Built") and Northwest Arkansas (moved due to legal issues), in 2014 the Gilley settled at its current location at Old Kinderhook Resort, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.