John Gale "Johnny" Horton ( April 30, 1925– November 5, 1960) was an American country music singer. He was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in East Texas. After graduating from Gallatin High School in 1944, he worked in California and Alaska before returning to Texas. He won a talent contest hosted by then-radio announcer Jim Reeves at the Reo Palm Isle club in Longview, Texas and soon went on to star in the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana. He remained a member of the Hayride until his death.
Horton had several crossover hits, most notably in 1959 with " The Battle of New Orleans" which won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song would be honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 was named one of the Songs of the Century. In 1960, Horton had another major crossover hit with " Sink the Bismarck."
In September 1953 he married Billie Jean Jones Eshliman, who, in late 1952, had been married to the late country music star Hank Williams for two and a half months prior to his death. An earlier marriage to Donna Cook ended in a divorce granted in Rusk, Texas. With Billie Jean, Johnny had two daughters, Yanina (Nina) and Melody. Billie Jean's daughter, Jerry, was also part of the family. Horton died returning home from a performance in Austin, Texas (Skyline Club) in a head-on collision with a drunk college student from Texas A & M on Highway 79 at Milano, Texas on November 5, 1960. (There is no truth to the rumor that Horton was on his way to Dallas to meet actor Ward Bond about a role on the tv series Wagon Train.) Premonitions about his death had plagued Horton for months before the event and he was correct in his fears that he would be killed by a drunk driver. It is ironic to note that both Horton and Hank Williams were married to the same woman at their death and played their last shows at the Skyline Club in Austin.