Johnny Burnette

Johnny Burnette was a Rockabilly pioneer born on March 25, 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 name and song-writing abilities gained prominence again when Ringo Starr released a cover of You're Sixteen[?] in 1973.