Mickey Gilley

Mickey Gilley
Gilley in 1970
Gilley in 1970
Background information
Birth nameMickey Leroy Gilley
Born(1936-03-09)March 9, 1936
Natchez, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedMay 7, 2022(2022-05-07) (aged 86)
Branson, Missouri, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
Years active1957–2022
Labels
Spouses
Geraldine Garrett
(m. 1953; div. 1961)
Vivian McDonald
(m. 1963; died 2019)
Cindy Loeb
(m. 2020)
Websitewww.gilleys.com

Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936[1] – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, Gilley moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as well.

Among his biggest hits are "Room Full of Roses", "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time", and the remake of the Soul hit "Stand by Me". Gilley charted 42 singles in the top 40 on the US Country chart. He was a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl McVoy, and Jimmy Swaggart.

  1. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 160/1. ISBN 0-85112-726-6.