GeneAutry.com » The Official Website for Gene Autry America's Favorite Singing Cowboy (2024)

The Official Website for Gene Autry
America's Favorite Singing Cowboy

Known as America's Favorite Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry's career spanned some 70 years in the entertainment industry. He became famous in radio, records, film, television, and live tour performances including rodeo. From the late 1920s through the early 1950s, Gene Autry recorded and wrote hundreds of songs; he was the most successful singing cowboy, appearing in 93 movies and starring in 91 episodes of his television series. Gene Autry was ranked among the most celebrated film stars, and for years was considered to be the most popular Western film actor. In his later years, Gene Autry owned television and radio stations on the West Coast and was the original owner of the Angels Major League Baseball team in Anaheim, California.

Gene Autry Activities and Events
Updated July 31, 2024

Gene Autry Films and Television Episodes Now Streaming On Shout! TV
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Autry Museum of the American West
Visit the museum co-founded by Gene Autry at Griffith park in Los Angeles, California. Read More
Thanks to the generous support of The Autry Foundation, Free Hours at the Autry are every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1:00 - 4:00 PM. Registration Required and Limited.
Autry Museum's Online Store – Gene Autry Items
Visit the Autry Museum Store's special Gene Autry section featuring LPs, DVDs, vintage Christmas Cards and more! ReadMore

Gene Autry YouTube Clip of the Week
Posted August 19, 2024

The majority of Gene Autry's musical B Westerns were filmed in Southern California with the rare exception of a few filmed in Arizona. His second film for Columbia Pictures, The Strawberry Roan (1948), was filmed in the three color Cinecolor process and shot on location in Sedona, Arizona. The film was released 76 years ago this month and is one of Gene’s most popular films with his fans. Enjoy our colorful Gene Autry YouTube Clip of the Week - the title song from The Strawberry Roan.

Visit the Official Gene Autry YouTube Channel for more Gene Autry musical clips from his radio, movie, and television career. Be sure to subscribe so you'll receive updates whenever Gene Autry Entertainment uploads new videos! Read More

Happy 80th Birthday Smokey Bear!
Posted August 7, 2024

Smokey Bear's 80th birthday is August 9th and Gene Autry Entertainment wishes him a very Happy Birthday! Gene Autry and Smokey Bear's friendship goes back to 1952 when Gene and the Cass County Boys recorded the children's song "Smokey the Bear." Prior to that, Gene was promoting forest fire prevention in 1951 with publicity photos from his Columbia Pictures film Gene Autry and the Mounties. Read more about Gene Autry and Smokey Bear here.

Record sleeve from Gene Autry's 1952 release "Smokey the Bear"

Record label from Gene Autry's 1952 release "Smokey the Bear"

Gene Autry Social Media
Updated July 31, 2024

Gene Autry connected with his fans during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s via letters, phone calls, official Fan Club magazines, and of course personal appearances. Today fans can connect with Gene's music, movies, and more via official Social Media outlets like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Folks can also subscribe to streaming services like Spotify for Gene's music and Shout! TV for Gene's films and television series.

For information on how to sign up for and use Gene Autry's official social media and streaming sites. Read more on our website here.

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Concho Belt, Multi-Stone Inlay

Necklace Hishi with Large Turquoise Pendant

Cuff Multi Stone

National Recording Registry Inducts Sounds of ABBA, Blondie, The Cars, The Chicks, Juan Gabriel, Green Day, The Notorious B.I.G. and Lily Tomlin
Posted April 22, 2024

The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording Preservation Board, whose members are appointed by the Librarian of Congress. The list of 25 recordings selected for 2024 include Gene Autry's record "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Read More Here

For detailed information and history on Gene Autry and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" visit our special Christmas Cowboy Section here.

Holiday Hitmaker Gene Autry's Easter Tunes
Posted March 4, 2024

Everyone knows that Gene Autry is the Christmas Cowboy with his hit songs "Here Comes Santa Claus (right Down Santa Claus Lane)" and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," but did you know that Gene also sang Easter tunes, too? That's right, he performed "Easter Parade" on his Melody Ranch Radio Show on Easter Sunday, April 6, 1947. While he never recorded this Irving Berlin classic for Columbia Records it was a hit with his radio audience. When Gene renewed his contract with Columbia Records in the Spring of 1950 for an additional five years, his brand-new Easter hit "Peter Cottontail" sold 175,000 copies during its first week of release! The flipside of the record was "The Funny Little Bunny (with the Powder Puff Tail)" with Gene backed by the Cass County Boys and Carl Cotner's Orchestra on both tracks.

The popularity of Gene's record "Peter Cottontail" led to the song's performance on his Melody Ranch radio show and in his cross-country personal appearance tours. Most significantly, Gene sang "Peter Cottontail" in his B Western film The Hills of Utah, released by Columbia Pictures in 1951. That same year, Gene recorded and released another Easter record with the songs "Sonny the Bunny" and "Bunny Round-Up Time." The success of Gene Autry's holiday and children's recordings in the early 1950s led to his final Easter record in1954 with "Easter Mornin'" and "The Horse with the Easter Bonnet."

An interesting connection between Gene's Christmas and Easter records are composers Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins. Gene debuted their songs "Peter Cottontail" and "Frosty the Snowman" in 1950. Both releases became Gold Records for Gene. He recorded one more song by the songwriting duo, but it wasn't a holiday song. In the early 1950s Smokey Bear was hugely popular with his Wildfire Prevention campaign, and songwriters Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote a song about him, adding "the" to the name only to keep the song's rhythm. Gene Autry recorded "Smokey the Bear" in 1952, once again backed by the Cass County Boys and Carl Cotner's Orchestra.

You can check out a selection of Gene Autry's Easter songs performances from his Melody Ranch Radio Show and movie Hills of Utah on our Gene Autry Official YouTube Channel's Easter Songs and Clips Playlist here.

In 2006 Gene Autry Entertainment partnered with Varèse Sarabande Records to release the CD album Gene Autry and Friends: Year-Round Cowboy. This included all six of Gene's Easter songs he recorded for Columbia Records in the early 1950s. The CD has since sold out and is no longer available on audio streaming services. But you might find the CD on resale sights, thrift stores, or garage sales. Read about the album here.

Spotify does have a few of Gene Autry's Columbia Records Easter song recordings.

Peter Cottontail – The First Easter Record for Children
Recordings by Gene Autry, Rosemary Clooney, and others
Easter Favorites – EP
All recordings by Gene Autry

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Licensing Gene Autry
Intellectual Properties

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Public Cowboy No. 1:The Life and Times of Gene AutryRead more...Fan Favorite!
Gene Autry A Melody Ranch ChristmasRead more...Christmas Classic!