Johnny Wright
Musician · 1914–2011 · Mount Juliet, Tennessee
Best known for
Songwriter
Lead Vocals
Johnnie Wright was a country singer and songwriter who, with brother-in-law Jack Anglin, formed Johnnie & Jack — one of the longest-running harmony duos of postwar country music — and who later led the Tennessee Mountain Boys to chart-topping success in the mid-1960s. He was also the husband of Kitty Wells, whose stage name he is credited with coining, and a co-author of the bluegrass standard “Ashes of Love.”
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- Born Johnnie Robert Wright Jr. on May 13, 1914, in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
- Married Ellen Muriel Deason in 1937 and gave her the stage name Kitty Wells; the marriage lasted 74 years.
- Formed Johnnie & Jack with Jack Anglin (his brother-in-law) in 1939; the duo’s tight harmonies shaped a generation of country and bluegrass acts.
- Co-wrote “Ashes of Love” with Jack Anglin and Jim Anglin; Johnnie & Jack first released it on RCA Victor in November 1951, and it has since become a bluegrass standard.
- Johnnie & Jack’s biggest hit was 1954’s “(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely,” which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country chart.
- The partnership ended in March 1963 when Jack Anglin was killed in a car accident on the way to Patsy Cline’s memorial service.
- Continued as a solo act with the Tennessee Mountain Boys; their 1965 recording of “Hello Vietnam” spent three weeks at No. 1 on the country chart.
- Died of natural causes at his home in Madison, Tennessee on September 27, 2011, at age 97.
