Background
He was the son of Wyatt and Gladys B. (Clowers) Kilgore.
musician singer singer-songwriter
He was the son of Wyatt and Gladys B. (Clowers) Kilgore.
He attended school at C. East. Byrd High School and then Louisiana Technical University.
Although born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, United States, Kilgore was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. As a boy of 14 he carried the guitar for Hank Williams at the Louisiana Hayride beginning a close relationship with the Williams family that would last three generations. He also wrote Claude King"s big crossover hit, "Wolverton Mountain".
Amongst others, he also penned "Johnny Reb" for Johnny Horton and the Tommy Roe popular music hit, "The Folk Singer".
On April 7, 1986, he was named Executive Vice President and head of management of Hank Williams Junior. Enterprises. In addition to managing Hank Williams Junior"s career (along with that of Hank Junior’s Bama Band), Kilgore managed a number of other artists from his Nashville office.
Kilgore also had a number of successful business ventures and held numerous leadership positions. Kilgore"s prominence in the country music community had grown through his involvement as Vice President of the Country Music Association, and he had served on the CMA Board of Directors.
Also contributing to his success was his position as President of both the Nashville Songwriter"s Foundation as well as the Nashville Songwriter"s Association International.
In 1987, he was named an honorary State Senator for Tennessee. In 1993, Kilgore was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame in Lafayette, Louisiana, and into Shreveport"s Byrd High School Hall of Fame. He hosted and performed at NSAI"s Tin Pan South Legendary Songwriter"s Acoustic Concert and was presented an award honoring him as "one of the world"s outstanding songwriters." Kilgore had also served two terms as President of ROPE, International (Reunion of Professional Entertainers, International).
As well as belonging to the NSAI and the American Federation of Musicians, he served as a board member for several organizations including the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and the Tex Ritter Museum, both in Carthage, Texas.
He also directed the operations of two offices, Hank Williams Junior. Enterprises in Paris, Tennessee and Merle Kilgore Management in Nashville, where he managed several other artists, Joe Sins being his most prominent.
In 1998, Kilgore was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2005, Merle Kilgore died from heart failure while in a Mexican hospital undergoing experimental treatments for lung cancer, and was interred in Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
A resident of Paris, Tennessee, since 1986, he was also a prominent member of the business community. Kilgore was a long-time member of the Academy of Country Music and an active member of the Screen Actors Guild.