ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996                 TAG: 9603250090
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-3  EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: NEWS OBIT 

SONGWRITER J.D. MILLER DIES

CROWLEY, La. - J.D. Miller, 73, whose song ``It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels'' helped open the way to stardom for women in country music, died Saturday .

Miller, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died at Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette of complications from recent quadruple bypass surgery.

Miller's ``Honky-Tonk Angels'' made Kitty Wells the first female superstar of country music, with the first No. 1 song and million-seller by a female vocalist.

The song, a response to Hank Thompson's 1952 hit ``The Wild Side of Life,'' opened the way for women to set themes in country music and to perform on their own rather than as members of singing families.

Miller is survived by his wife, Georgia Miller, a daughter and four sons.

- Associated Press

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