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===Early years===
Billy Walker was born in [[Ralls, Texas
In 1951, Walker signed with [[Columbia Records]] and the following year joined the ''[[Louisiana Hayride]]'' in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], where he and [[Slim Whitman]] were responsible in part for [[Elvis Presley]]'s first appearance on the radio program. In 1954, Walker scored his first hit with "[[Thank You for Calling]]". His early Columbia recordings were at a Dallas studio owned by producer [[Jim Beck]], responsible for hits by [[Ray Price (musician)|Ray Price]], [[Lefty Frizzell]] and others.<ref name="CMT.com Staff">{{cite web | url = http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1532202/20060521/walker_billy.jhtml?headlines=true | title = Grand Ole Opry Star Billy Walker, Three Others Killed in Traffic Accident | publisher = CMT.com | author = CMT.com Staff | date = 2006-05-21 | access-date = 2009-04-17}}</ref> In 1955, Walker, Presley and [[Tillman Franks]] teamed up for a tour of West Texas. Walker soon became a cast member of ABC-TV's ''[[Ozark Jubilee]]'' in [[Springfield, Missouri]], where he began a long friendship with host [[Red Foley]].<ref name="CMT.com Staff"/>
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===Country music career===
After a brief attempt at [[rock 'n' roll]], Walker played the Texas bar circuit before moving to [[Nashville, Tennessee
After performing at a charity concert in [[Kansas City, Kansas]] on March 3, 1963, Walker received an urgent phone call to return to Nashville. Fellow performer [[Hawkshaw Hawkins]] gave Walker his [[Airline|commercial airline]] ticket and instead flew back to Tennessee on March 5 on a private plane, which crashed, killing Hawkins, [[Patsy Cline]], [[Cowboy Copas]] and pilot Randy Hughes.<ref name="In Memory of Billy Walker"/>
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