Johnny Tillotson

American singer-songwriter, Johnny Tillotson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on April 20, 1938. After winning a talent show at the age of 18, Florida-born Johhny Tillotson was given the opportunity to perform at Nashville's legendary Grand Ole Opry. His appearance led to a recording deal with Cadence records and a year later Tillotson's first single "Dreamy Eyes" made it to number 63 in the Billboard Charts. The next three singles had a similar lack-lustre performance and it wasn't until he recorded "Poetry in Motion", a song written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, that Tillotson hit the big time. Released in 1960, the song went to number two in the United States and number one in the UK, selling over a million copies. Although he was never to top the mainstream charts again, Tillotson remained a consistently popular performer throughout the next two decades releasing over 50 singles and eleven albums. A single, "Not Enough", released in 2010 was Tillotson's tribute to the US uniformed services. It went to number one on the Indie Country Chart and reached the top 25 in the New Music Chart. The song has a contemporary, upbeat country rock feel and demonstrates that even in his 70s, the artist has lost none of his flair for songwriting and performing. Inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2011, Tillotson died of complications from Parkinson's disease on April 1, 2025, at 86.