Mickey Gilley

===Recording career in the 1970s before ''Urban Cowboy''===
In 1974, Gilley recorded a song that originally was only supposed to be recorded for fun, titled "Room Full of Roses", written by [[Tim Spencer (singer)|Tim Spencer]] of the [[Sons of the Pioneers]], which was a one-time hit for [[George Morgan (singer)|George Morgan]].<ref name="LarkinCountry"/> The song was released by Astro Records that year, and then [[Playboy Records]] got a hold of the single and obtained national distribution for "Room Full of Roses".<ref name="LarkinCountry"/> From then on, Gilley was signed to Playboy Records, working with his long-time friend [[Eddie Kilroy]]. "Room Full of Roses" became the song that put Gilley on national radar, hitting the very top of the Country charts that year, as well as making it to No.&nbsp;50 on the pop music chart.<ref name="LarkinCountry"/>

He had a string of top tens and No.&nbsp;1s throughout the 1970s. Some of these hits were cover versions of songs, including the [[Bill Anderson (singer)|Bill Anderson]] song "[[City Lights (Bill Anderson song)|City Lights]]", [[George Jones]]' "[[The Window Up Above]]", and [[Sam Cooke]]'s "[[Bring It On Home to Me]]".<ref name="LarkinCountry"/> He remained a popular country act for the rest of the 1970s. Other hits in the 1970s include "Chains of Love" (1977), "Honky Tonk Memories" (1977), "[[She's Pulling Me Back Again]]" (1977), and "Here Comes the Hurt Again" (1978). These songs were a mix of [[Honky-tonk#Music|honky-tonk]] and [[countrypolitan]] that brought Gilley to the top of the charts in the 1970s.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

However, a new breed of singer was entering [[country music]]. These singers were country-crossover artists that brought country success with them onto the pop charts. These singers include [[Glen Campbell]], [[Crystal Gayle]], [[Anne Murray]], [[Olivia Newton-John]], [[Barbara Mandrell]], and [[Kenny Rogers]]. To compete with this new breed of Country singer, Gilley had to sound like them and have that kind of country-pop success that these singers were having.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

In 1978, Gilley signed on with [[Epic Records]], when [[Playboy Records]] was bought by Epic. By 1979, his success was fading slightly. Songs like "The Power of Positive Drinkin'", "Just Long Enough to Say Goodbye", and "My Silver Lining" just made the Top Ten.<ref name="Country Songs">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/mickey-gilley/chart-history/csi/|title=Mickey Gilley - Chart History (Hot Country Songs)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=May 12, 2022}}</ref>