Born on June 5, 1925, in Harvey, Illinois, Bill Hayes was a singer and actor best known for the chart-topping hit “The Ballad of Davy Crockett.” Enlisting in the U.S. Navy Air Corps when he was 18, he trained to be a fighter pilot and was scheduled to make his first flight when the call went out that Word War II had ended. After he was discharged, he continued studying at DePauw University, where he majored in music and English. He then attended Northwestern University, where he earned a master’s degree in music. He then received his Ph.D. in education from West Virginia University. In the early 1950s, he became a regular singer on Your Show of Shows, a TV variety series hosted by Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. He spent the rest of the 1950s appearing on a series of TV specials and series. And then along came the Davy Crockett craze that took over the US in 1954. The TV series Davy Crocket debuted in ’54 and was an immediate hit, prompting several artists to record the show’s theme song, “The Ballad of Davy Crocket,” including Bill Hayes himself. Although the series’ star Fess Parker and Tennessee Ernie Ford also recorded versions of the song, Bill Hayes’ recording was the most popular version, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and climbing the charts around the world. He followed the hit single with the albums The Real Davy Crockett (1955) and Bill Hayes Sings the Best of Disney (1957) and several singles including “The Legend of Wyatt Earp” (1955), “The Berry Tree” (1955), and “Wringle, Wrangle,” which landed at number 33. However, his other releases couldn’t match the success of “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” and he eventually focused on an acting career beginning in the 1960s. His most notable role was as Doug Williams in the American soap opera Days of Our Lives, appearing on the show from 1970 until 2023, although he did take several years off during that long run. Bill Hayes died on January 12, 2024, in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, at the age of 98.
