Country Artist Merle Kilgore

Although Merle Kilgore had a career as a Country music recording artist, he had great success as a songwriter, co-writing with June Carter the song “Ring of Fire”, first recorded by her sister Anita Carter and later by June’s future husband, Johnny Cash. June, later known as June Carter Cash, would record her own version of the song for her album Press On, released in 1999. He also co-wrote Claude King’s big crossover hit, “Wolverton Mountain”. Amongst others, he also penned “Johnny Reb” for Johnny Horton and the Tommy Roe pop music hit, “The Folk Singer”. In the early 1960s, he toured with Cash as part of his package show. He stood as Johnny Cash’s best man at his wedding to June Carter.

Kilgore was a long-time member of the Academy of Country Music and an active member of the Screen Actors Guild. As well as belonging to the NSAI and the American Federation of Musicians, he served as a board member for several organizations including the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and the Tex Ritter Museum, both in Carthage, Texas. He also directed the operations of two offices, Hank Williams Jr. Enterprises in Paris, Tennessee and Merle Kilgore Management in Nashville, where he managed several other artists, Joe Sins being his most prominent. In 1998, Kilgore was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.