- Album list
- Singer Intro
Orvon Grover 'Gene' Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998) was an American singer-songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer and business tycoon who gained fame as a singing cowboy in a crooning style on radio, in movies, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was the owner of a television station, several radio stations in Southern California, and the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997.
From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films, and between 1950 and 1956 hosted The Gene Autry Show television series. During the 1930s and 1940s, he personified the straight-shooting hero—honest, brave, and true—and profoundly touched the lives of millions of Americans. Autry was also one of the most important pioneering figures in the history of country music, considered the second major influential artist of the genre's development after Jimmie Rodgers. His singing cowboy movies were the first vehicle to carry country music to a national audience. In addition to his signature song, 'Back in the Saddle Again', and his hit At Mail Call Today, Autry is still remembered for his Christmas holiday songs, most especially his biggest hit 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' as well as 'Frosty the Snowman', 'Here Comes Santa Claus', and 'Up on the House Top'.
Autry was a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for film, television, music, radio, and live performance. The town of Gene Autry, Oklahoma was named in his honor.
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