Gene Autry
Country music has had many great musicians that
should never be forgotten. One of the first ones is Gene Autry, the first
singing cowboy movie star. Gene Autry got his big break in music in
October of 1929. For most artists this would have been a terrible time to break
out into the industry because of the stock market crash that began The Great
Depression. He made it through because he started out doing replicas of
Jimmy Rodger’s songs. These records were successful because he sold them for
about 20 cents apiece while Rodgers sold the same song for 75 cents apiece. There
had even been a few times when Autry’s records would come out before Rodgers.
It
was not until 1935 that he came into his first big role. From then on, he
became one of the biggest names in westerns and hillbilly music, known today as
country music. He remained the “King of Cowboys” until he decided to fight for
is country and was shipped off. During this time Roy Rogars’ career took off.
Once Autry came back to the US Rogars had took the title from him but this did
not keep Autry from continuing his career as an entertainer. Autry also did a
few weekly radio shows. His most famous one was Melody Ranch. The theme song to this show was one of Autry’s
biggest hits was “Back in the Saddle Again”.
Gene Autry continued his career
for many years until 1964 when he chose to retire. During his career, he made
many achievements. One of the most amazing one is that he is the only
entertainer who has five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for radio, recording,
motion pictures, television, and live performances. He lived a long and successful
life until he died of lymphoma in 1998 at the age of 91.
