Johnny Westerlund, known professionally as Johnny Western, and born on October 28, 1934, in Two Harbors, Minnesota, is a singer-songwriter and musician. He started his musical career at 13, performing professionally and working as a disc jockey. Western's breakthrough came when he wrote "The Ballad of Paladin" for the television series Have Gun, Will Travel, securing a deal with Columbia Records. Between 1958 and 1963, he released seven singles and his debut album, Have Gun, Will Travel (1962), which included the track "Cowpoke", recognized as one of the Top 100 Western songs by the Western Writers of America. After leaving Columbia, Western recorded sporadically until Johnny Cash invited him to record at his House Of Cash studio in 1981, resulting in the album Johnny Western. He was notably inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Western Music Association Hall of Fame in 2001.
