Johnny Horton’s Death – Cause and Date

The country singer Johnny Horton died at the tender age of 35, at the peak of his fame.

Biography – A Short Wiki

He was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of sharecropping parents who split their time between California and Texas.

His saga songs like “The Battle of New Orleans,” which combine history and country music, catalyzed a musical fad and won him a Grammy Award for Best Country Album.

Traffic collision

On the night of November 4–5, 1960, Horton, along with two other band members, Tommy Tomlinson, and Tillman Franks, were traveling from the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas, to Shreveport when their vehicle collided with an oncoming truck on a bridge near Milano in Milam County, Texas.

Horton passed away en route to the hospital, while Tomlinson (1930–1982) sustained serious injuries, leading to the amputation of his leg. Franks (1920–2006) suffered head injuries, and James Davis, the truck driver, sustained a broken ankle and other minor injuries.

Funeral

Shreveport November 8, 1960. The younger brother, William Derrel “Billy” Franks, a Church of God minister, officiated the funeral. Celebrity Johnny Cash performed one of the readings and read from Resurrection of Jesus (Chapter 20 from the Gospel of John).

Burial

Horton was laid to rest at Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Haughton, located east of Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana.