27 Facts About Mickey Gilley

Mickey Leroy Gilley was an American country music singer and songwriter.

Mickey Gilley was a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl McVoy, and Jimmy Swaggart.

For many years, Mickey 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.

Mickey Gilley grew up in Louisiana, just across the Mississippi River from where Lewis grew up.

Mickey Gilley's family moved to the east side of Houston, Texas, in the 1940s, where he attended Galena Park High School.

Mickey Gilley was primarily a guitarist at the time and took his guitar to school to entertain classmates.

Mickey Gilley's record "Call Me Shorty" on the Dot label sold well in 1958.

Mickey Gilley had a minor hit from the album called "Now I Can Live Again".

In 1970, Mickey Gilley joined in a partnership with Sherwood Cryer.

Mickey Gilley shared Gilley's Club with Sherwood Cryer, who asked Gilley to re-open his former bar with him.

The club portion of Mickey Gilley's burned in 1990, and the rodeo arena portion was razed in 2005 to make way for a school.

In 1974, Mickey 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.

Mickey Gilley remained a popular country act for the rest of the 1970s.

Mickey Gilley's career was given a second go-around when one of his recordings was featured in the box-office-selling film Urban Cowboy.

Not only was his chart success fading, but Mickey Gilley had a series of financial problems that led to the closing of his club in Pasadena, Texas.

Mickey Gilley turned his attention to Branson, Missouri, where he built a theater, which was a soon-to-be boomtown for the country music industry.

Mickey Gilley appeared on "Urban Cowboys", episode 9 in the third season of American Pickers, which aired originally on September 5,2011.

In 2012, Mickey 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.

Mickey Gilley returned to the studio in 2017 and released Kickin' It Down the Road the same year.

In 2018, Mickey Gilley teamed up with longtime friend Troy Payne to record his last studio album Two Old Cats, a CD containing 13 classic country duets.

Mickey Gilley was the mother of three of his four children.

Mickey Gilley was double first cousins with both Jerry Lee Lewis and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In July 2009, Mickey Gilley was helping a neighbor move some furniture when he fell with the love seat falling on top of him, crushing four vertebrae.

Mickey Gilley's death was announced on May 7,2022, by Jeff Wagner, mayor of Pasadena, Texas.

In 2017, Mickey Gilley was awarded the Key to the City of Winchester, Virginia, by the Hon.

Mickey 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 "Mickey Gilley" was first organized in 2009 by a group of urban cowboys brought together by their love for golf, country music, and rhinestone shirts.