Country western star Mickey Gilley was born on March 9, 1936 in Natchez, Mississippi, the cousin of future rockabilly legend Jerry Lee Lewis and disgraced televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. In their childhood, all three would play the piano together when they got together and sing gospel and boogie-woogie songs. After Lewis became a chart-topper in the 1950s, Mickey turned professional himself and cut some singles before becoming a session player in the Big Easy. He had a minor hit "Call Me Shorty" in 1958, but it would be years before he came out from under Jerry lee's shadow and established himself as a star.
He didn't release his first album, "Down the Line", until 1967. The album yielded a minor hit, "Now I Can Live Again". Three years later, he became a nightclub owner when he opened his Gilley's Club in Pasadena, Texas. The club, billed as the "world's biggest honky tonk," became famous when it was used as the setting for Urban Cowboy (1980) (1980). A song of his was featured on the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack, and the exposure boosted his popularity. By the 1980s, Gilley was experiencing cross-over success when he mellowed his C+W with a more pop orientation. He managed to put songs on the charts in each of 15 years, enjoying 17 #1 country hits.
