Billy Edward Wheeler[1] (December 9, 1932 – September 16, 2024) was an American songwriter, performer, writer, and visual artist.
His songs include "Jackson" (Grammy award winner for Johnny Cash and June Carter) "The Reverend Mr. Black", "Desert Pete", "Ann", "High Flyin' Bird", "The Coming of the Roads", "It’s Midnight", "Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back", "Coal Tattoo", "Winter Sky", and "Coward of the County" (which inspired a 1981 television movie of the same name) and have been performed by over 160 artists including Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Darin, Richie Havens, The Kingston Trio, Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, Hazel Dickens, Florence and the Machine, Kathy Mattea, Nancy Sinatra, and Elvis Presley.
His first novel, Star of Appalachia, was published in January 2004, and his second, co-written with Ewel Cornett, Kudzu Covers Manhattan, in 2005.
He was the featured author in Appalachian Heritage magazine's 2008 winter issue, which included 16 of his original paintings.
In 2018, Wheeler published a book of memoirs entitled Hotter Than A Pepper Sprout, a Hillybilly poet's journey from Appalachia to Yale to writing hits for Elvis, Johnny Cash & More.