Like many country artists in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Gene Autry started out as an imitator of Jimmie Rodgers. As an artist, Gene Autry obviously idolized Jimmie Rodgers, as so many did.

Gene Autry’s 1952 hit song “Merry Texas Christmas ... “I heard Asleep at the Wheel sing it on the radio coming home today. Ernest loved doing those songs about Texas. You know, Ernest ...

He was called “America’s Favorite Cowboy” and the “Singing ... Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in Los Angeles in 1988. He ...