[3] His mother Mae Boren Axton, a songwriter, cowrote the song "Heartbreak Hotel", which became a major hit for Elvis Presley.

[7] After his discharge from the Navy, Axton began singing folk songs in coffee houses and nightclubs in Southern California.

He gained fame in the 1970s and 1980s through his film roles, including those in The Black Stallion (1979), Liar's Moon (1982), Heart Like a Wheel (1983) and Gremlins (1984).

Axton's most lasting contributions, however, were songs made famous by others: "Joy to the World" (Three Dog Night) and "Never Been to Spain" for both Three Dog Night and Elvis Presley, "Greenback Dollar" for the Kingston Trio, "The Pusher" and "Snowblind Friend" for Steppenwolf, "No No Song" for Ringo Starr, and songs covered by singers such as Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, John Denver, Nina Simone, Waylon Jennings, Martha Reeves, Jonathan Edwards, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, David Clayton-Thomas and Colter Wall.

Axton sang duets with Linda Ronstadt on the songs "Lion in the Winter" and "When the Morning Comes", with Renee Armand on "Boney Fingers" and with Tanya Tucker on "You Taught Me How to Cry."

His composition "Joy to the World", performed by Three Dog Night, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six straight weeks in 1971, making it the top hit of the year.

[citation needed] Axton died at age 61 at his home in Victor, Montana on October 26, 1999, after suffering two heart attacks in two weeks.

[16] Axton also contributed songs for the films The Legend of Hillbilly John (1972), Buster and Billie (1974), Mitchell (1975), and The Junkman (1982).

In the mid-1990s, Axton was chosen to host and narrate the profile series Life and Times on The Nashville Network, in which a different country music figure was spotlighted each hour.

Axton also served as the narrator for two documentaries about the Western States Endurance Race in 1982 and 1983 titled Desperate Dreams.