Mickey Gilley

Singer and pianist Mickey Gilley became one of the biggest names in country music in the '70s, scoring a string of hit records as well as helping to launch a cultural movement. Born into one of the most famous families in Southern music, Gilley was the cousin of rockabilly legend Jerry Lee Lewis, and he launched his career in the late '50s with singles that mimicked Lewis' trademark style. By the early '60s, Gilley had remade himself as a country artist (years before Jerry Lee would do the same) but didn't make a major impact nationally until 1974 when "Room Full of Roses," or...