Over two million copies of the 78rpm single were sold, quickly
making Johnnie Ray a teen idol.
John Alvin Ray was born in Hopewell, Oregon, ten miles south of Dayton
and later moved with his parents to Portland, Oregon where he attended
High School. Ray died of liver failure in Los Angeles at the age of 63. He
was buried at Hopewell Cemetery in Oregon.
Steve Yaw Sr. told me that Johnnie Ray used to work at Yaw’s Top Notch Restaurant many years ago….his dad, Paige Yaw would ask him to stop singing as the cooks could not hear the orders when they were called back to the kitchen!!! (I think he quit shortly after that and started his music career!!)