Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter Cindy Walker, whose songs were recorded by stars ranging from Bing Crosby to Elvis Presley, died Thursday, said her niece, Carol Adams. She was 87.
Walker’s songs were recorded by generations of celebrities, beginning with Crosby, who gave the budding songwriter her start in the early 1940s. Willie Nelson released an album this month featuring her work titled “You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker.”
Walker was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville in 1997, and she was an inaugural inductee into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.
Walker’s first big break came in 1942 while on a trip to Hollywood with her father. She walked right into the Crosby Building and sang one of her songs for Larry Crosby, who told her to come back the next day and present the song to Bing Crosby.
He decided to record “Lone Star Trail,” beginning Walker’s long career of songwriting — often using a floral-patterned typewriter to compose her hits. Her famous songs included “You Don’t Know Me,” “Dream Baby” and the Top 5 Gene Autry hit, “Silver Spurs.”
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