Although most of Roger Miller's career as a country musician was fraught with struggles, in hindsight he was one of the most influential artists to every grace the genre. He had a rough childhood, being sent to live with his uncle in a small town in Oklahoma. He listened to country music greats as a child and dreamed of becoming a singer himself. As a young man, he started trying to find work as a singer before being drafted into the Army during the Korean War. Stationed in Atlanta, he was in a military band called the Circle A Wranglers, where he played fiddle.

As soon as he was out of the Army, Miller moved to Nashville. He took non-music jobs to support himself, but soon found work as a fiddle player in Minnie Pearl's band. A friendship with George Jones paid off in 1957 when Jones introduced his songwriting talent to people at Starday Records. They released his first single that same year. Also in 1957, Miller helped write the single "Tall, Tall Trees" for Jones. Although it wasn't a success, it became a number one four decades later when Alan Jackson released it as a single. He played with Ray Price's band Cherokee Cowboys for a short time before being hired as a songwriter for Tree Publishing.

He pushed on in his recording career while he was writing hits for other stars, but was finding little success. He had two hit singles after signing to RCA in 1960, but three years later Miller was unhappy with the label. He started acting, but was also signed by Smash Records. Instead of getting out of the music industry like he wanted, Miller found stardom with the single "Dang Me" in 1964. He continued his career until he started waning in popularity by the end of the 1970s. He almost retired completely, but rote the score for the musical Big River, which opened on Broadway in 1985. Miller passed away from cancer in 1992.