Mickey Gilley was born on March 9, 1936. He learned to play piano at an early age and but pursued construction before he started playing piano professionally. In 1957, he recorded his first record “Ooh we Baby”. The song would later by used in a commercial for Yoplait yogurt.
In 1971 along with business partner, Sherwood Cryer, he opened the world famous Gilley’s night club in Pasadena, Texas. The club would grow and one day enter into the Guinness Record Book as the World’s largest Honky-Tonk. It was here that Mickey started experiencing his first success when he released “Room Full of Roses”. By the mid-seventies his songs were hitting the country charts with regularity.
With the club rising in popularity so to did Mickey’s. To name a few of his many hits, “City Lights”, “I Overlooked and Orchid”, and “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time” all reached number one on the Billboard Country Charts.
Mickey’s success along with the attention of the Esquire article led Paramount pictures to film a movie in 1979. The movie, Urban Cowboy, would star John Travolta and Debra Winger and predominately featured Gilley’s. Upon the movie’s release Urban Cowboy became a phenomenon.
In 2009 Gilley tripped while helping his friends move a sofa and was paralyzed for 3 months.
He could no longer play the piano, walking was difficult, but his voice was better than ever and family and fans kept encouraging him to perform.
Today Gilley “walks” out on the stage unassisted and proceeds to sing his hits and share his musical career. The show is full of stories, music, and tender moments. You just never know what Gilley is going to say and do and the audience loves it.
To learn more about Mickey Gilley, visit: http://gilleys.com
