Johnny Mercer

Life & Legacy

John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs.
He is best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, but he sometimes composed music, despite not knowing piano or standard musical notation, and was a popular singer who recorded his own as well as others' songs from the mid-1930s through the mid-1970s. Mercer wrote the lyrics to more than 1,200 songs, including compositions for movies, Broadway shows, and well-known standards of the time, including "Autumn Leaves", "Days of Wine and Roses", "Hooray for Hollywood", "I'm an Old Cowhand" (music & lyrics), and "Moon River". He received eighteen Oscar nominations and won four Best Original Song Oscars.