Johnny Mercer

For other people with the same name, see John Mercer (disambiguation).

Johnny Mercer
Mercer, c. 1947
Background information
Born	John Herndon Mercer (1909-11-18)November 18, 1909 Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Died	June 25, 1976(1976-06-25) (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Lyricist songwriter record producer record label owner
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1930–1976
Children	2
Signature

John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs.

He is best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, but he sometimes composed music, despite not knowing piano or standard musical notation, and was a popular singer who recorded his own as well as others' songs from the mid-1930s through the mid-1970s. Mercer wrote the lyrics to more than 1,200 songs, including compositions for movies, Broadway shows, and well-known standards of the time, including "Autumn Leaves", "Days of Wine and Roses", "Hooray for Hollywood", "I'm an Old Cowhand" (music & lyrics), and "Moon River". He received eighteen Oscar nominations and won four Best Original Song Oscars.