Al Rogers (July 24, 1924 – December 6, 2019) was an American country singer.

Early life

Rogers was born July 24, 1924, in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. He learned to play the banjo at age 9 and the guitar at age 12.

Career

Rogers was the leader of the band "The Rocky Mountain Boys". They are best known for their 1954 hit "Hydrogen Bomb", which was featured in the soundtrack of the movie "

The Atomic Cafe ''The Atomic Cafe'' is a 1982 American documentary film directed by Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader and Pierce Rafferty. It is a compilation of clips from newsreels, military training films, and other footage produced in the United States early in t ...

". Rogers' fans know him as "The American Folk Balladeer". In the 1950s, Rogers was a popular radio and television star in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, most notably in the TV series "The Panhandle Barn Dance".

Personal life and death

Rogers served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. He married Betty Ross on May 20, 1947. In 1950 the couple moved to Amarillo, Texas. They had two daughters, Joanne (born 1952 and Kathy Denise (born 1957). Rogers died on December 6, 2019, at the age of 95.

Honors and awards

In 1984, Al Rogers was inducted into the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

Walkway of Stars.

References

1924 births 2019 deaths People from West Mifflin, Pennsylvania American country singer-songwriters Musicians from Amarillo, Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Country musicians from Texas Country musicians from Pennsylvania United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II {{US-country-singer-stub