27 Years Ago Today, We Lost the Songwriter Who Penned Hits for Elvis Presley and John Denver and Whose Mother Co-Wrote “Heartbreak Hotel”

October 26, 2026, 8:42am

On this day (October 26) in 1999, country-folk singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton, 61, died at his home in Victor, Montana, after suffering his second heart attack in two weeks. Following in the footsteps of his mother, Mae Boren Axton — who co-wrote the million-selling Elvis Presley hit “Heartbreak Hotel” — he wrote songs recorded by Three Dog Night, Ringo Starr, and the rock group Steppenwolf. Axton also enjoyed success as a recording artist with songs like the Linda Ronstadt duet “When the Morning Comes” and “Boney Fingers” with Renee Armand. And his stardom wasn’t limited to the studio, as Axton landed acting roles in a number of films including The Black Stallion (1979) and 1984’s Gremlins.

Today, we’re revisiting the life and career of Hoyt Axton on the 27th anniversary of his passing.

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Hoyt Axton Only Ever Wanted to Write Songs

Born March 25, 1938, in Duncan, Oklahoma, to parents John and Mae, Hoyt Wayne Axton spent his teenage years in Jacksonville, Florida.

An All-State football standout who also played classical piano and guitar, Axton wrote his first song at age 15.

“All I ever wanted to be was a songwriter,” he once told The Oklahoman. “The closest you can get to God, or the way I do, anyway, is when you’re writing a song and it’s right.”

In 1956 — the same year Mae Boren Axton’s “Heartbreak Hotel” put a young Elvis Presley on the map — Hoyt accepted an athletic scholarship to Oklahoma State University.

However, he would leave college to serve in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of petty officer second class.

Heading to the West Coast

Following his discharge from the Navy, Hoyt Axton made his way to San Francisco, California, where he became a fixture in local folk clubs and coffee houses.

in 1962, he released his debut album The Balladeers, which included the self-penned “Greenback Dollar”. A year later, the song became a hit for Bay Area folk-pop act the Kingston Trio.

A Succesful Songwriter

Hoyt Axton would go on to release numerous albums and singles throughout the 1960s and 1970s, notching a top 20 hit with 1979’s “Della and the Dealer”.

However, his success as a songwriter far outshone his performing career. While opening for Three Dog Night in the early 1970s, the pop-rock band heard his song “Joy to the World”. In the spring of 1971, they took their recording of the track to the top of the pop charts.

Additionally, in 1975, ex-Beatle Ringo Starr nabbed a top three hit with Axton’s “The No No Song”. Three years later, the gravelly-voiced baritone founded his own label, Jeremiah Records — so named for the bullfrog in “Joy to the World”.

Acting Career

Hoyt Axton got his acting start on TV programs like Hootenanny and Bonanza.

He soon graduated to the big screen, including a notable turn as flailing inventor Randall Peltzer in the 1984 horror-comedy film Gremlins, also starring Phoebe Cates and Corey Feldman.

Married four times, Axton battled c*caine addiction, which influenced songs like “The Pusher” — recorded by Steppenwolf and immortalized in the 1969 film Easy Rider starring Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson.

Featured image by David Redfern/Redferns