Willie Denson (23 November 1936 in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

– 1 July 2006) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, most notably for

the Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McFadd ...

, and a

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

under the name Denny Denson. He wrote or co-wrote with

Luther Dixon Luther Dixon (August 7, 1931 – October 22, 2009) was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Dixon's songs achieved their greatest success in the 1950s and 1960s, and were recorded by Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Jackson 5, B.B ...

five songs for the Shirelles, including " Mama Said," a number 5 hit, "Stop the Music," "The Things I Want to Hear (Pretty Words)," "Love Is a Swingin' Thing," and "Blue Holiday." His own singles as Denny Denson including "Too Long" / "Bills" (1962). In 2001, Denson won $3 million in the Georgia lottery. He died on 1 July 2006 after a long battle with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

, at age 69.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denson, Willie 1936 births 2006 deaths Deaths from lung cancer 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers