Johnny Burnette

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Johnny Burnette was a Rockabilly pioneer born on March 28 , 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee. Along with his brother Dorsey Burnette and a friend, Paul Burlison, in the early 1950s he formed the Johnny Burnette Rock and Roll Trio. They are considered to be the ones who originally coined the phrase "Rockabilly". Although they managed to get a recording contract, in 1957 the group split up due to a lack of commercial success but while living in California in 1960 Burnette had a back-to-back major hits with songs he wrote titled Dreamin and You're sixteen followed by Little Boy Sad a year later.

Johnny Burnette’s career was cut short at the age of 30 when he drowned in a boating accident on August 14, 1964. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

His named and song-writing abilities gained prominence again when Ringo Starr released a cover of You're sixteen in 1973.