Roger Miller: Fort Worth’s King of the Road

Today is the birthday of Roger Miller. He would be 91 today.

Fort Worth handed Roger Miller his birth certificate on January 2, 1936, and then he was gone. His father died early. The family split. He was raised by an uncle in Erick, Oklahoma — a Panhandle town with more tumbleweeds than ambitions. But the wit was already forming. Miller had a peculiar genius: he could make a pun ache like a bruise. He arrived in Nashville in the 1950s and spent years writing for others before anyone gave him a shot of his own.

Eleven Grammys in Two Years

Then came 1964 and 1965. Miller won eleven Grammy Awards across those two years — still a country record. “King of the Road” hit No. 1 in 1965 and crossed every genre line in sight. “Dang Me,” “Chug-A-Lug,” “Engine Engine #9” — each one a different calibration of American funny. But “Husbands and Wives” showed he could lay you flat when he wanted to. He later wrote the Broadway musical Big River, which won seven Tony Awards in 1985. He died October 25, 1992. The wit never wore out before he did. Learn more at the Texas State Historical Association.