Mae Boren Axton (September 14, 1914 – April 9, 1997) was known in the music industry as the "Queen Mother of Nashville." She co-wrote the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

hit single "

Heartbreak Hotel "Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being ...

" with

Tommy Durden Thomas Russell Durden (December 15, 1919 – October 17, 1999) was an American steel guitarist and songwriter, who is most notable for co-writing Elvis Presley's breakthrough hit, "Heartbreak Hotel". Biography He was born in Morgan County, G ...

. She worked with

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

, Reba McEntire,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature int ...

Johnny Tillotson Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary ''Billboard'' charts, including " Poetry ...

, and

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

Personal life

Boren was born in Texas to Mark L. and Nannie Boren. The only daughter out of nine children, she was the sister of United States Congressman Lyle Boren. When Boren was two years old the family moved to Oklahoma. She attended

East Central State College East Central University (ECU or East Central) is a public university in Ada, Oklahoma. It is part of Oklahoma's Regional University System. Beyond its flagship campus in Ada, the university has courses available in McAlester, Shawnee, and Duran ...

and the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism. She obtained a public

teaching certificate A certified teacher is an educator who has earned credentials from an authoritative source, such as the government, a higher education institution or a private body or source. This teacher qualification gives a teacher authorization to teach and ...

and taught English and journalism at schools throughout Oklahoma. Boren married John T. Axton, an officer in the US Navy, and they had two sons: folk music singer-songwriter, guitarist, film and television actor Hoyt Axton and John, who became an attorney. The family lived in

Comanche, Oklahoma Comanche is a city in Stephens County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,663 at the 2010 census. History Comanche is a small city in southwest Oklahoma, set in rolling prairie land interspersed with oil fields, ranches, farms, ...

during the children's pre-teen years. In 1949, Axton was stationed in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and the family moved there. Boren taught English at Dupont High School, Paxon High School and Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Florida.

Music career

By the early to mid-1950s, Mae had developed a number of connections in the music industry. The best-known of these was music executive, song publisher, and songwriter Fred Rose (famous for his work with Hank Williams). She also became a songwriting partner with Jacksonville musicians

and Glen Reeves. During this time, Boren also worked as a radio DJ and music promoter. Boren is credited with writing approximately 200 songs. Artists who recorded her early compositions include Perry Como and

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, " Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), ...

. In 1983, Mae also discovered a young Tiffany Darwish singing country songs at the Palomino Club in Los Angeles. Mae brought the singer to Nashville, and soon afterwards Tiffany would set a record for the youngest female artist to top the ''Billboard'' charts with a debut album. Since 1998, The Academy of Country Music (ACM) has presented the Mae Boren Axton Service Award to "an outstanding country music artist, duo/group or industry leader in recognition of years of dedication and service to the Academy of Country Music." Recipients include Paul Moore, Barry Adelman, Bob Kingsley, Reba McEntire and

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

"Heartbreak Hotel"

Boren was the link between

and RCA Victor. She introduced a 19-year-old Presley to

Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),

after a performance in Jacksonville, FL. She worked on behalf of Bob Neal to promote Presley and pressured RCA Victor's Nashville division head Stephen H. Sholes to sign Presley. In 1955 Boren co-wrote the Elvis Presley hit-song "

" with Tommy Durden.Axton, 384. Durden presented the idea to Mae Axton from a newspaper article he had read in which criminal and painter Alvin Krolik said, "This is the story of a person who walked a lonely street." It was Boren who suggested there be a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of the man's lonely street, thus creating Elvis' first #1 record and one of the greatest

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

hits.

Death

In 1997 at the age of 82, Mae drowned in her hot tub at her home in

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the largest city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 61,753 at the 2020 census. Hendersonville is the fourth-largest city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nashville, Murfreesboro, ...

, after an apparent heart attack.

References

External links