Mae Boren Axton, born in Bardwell, Texas, on 14 August 1914, was a hugely influential but largely unsung figure in country and early rock and roll, remembered as the "Queen Mother of Nashville". She co-wrote "Heartbreak Hotel", Elvis Presley's first US number one, and introduced him to Colonel Tom Parker, who became his long-serving manager, helping to shape the trajectory of his entire career.

Axton trained as a journalist and English teacher before moving into music, working as Hank Snow's publicist and forming ties with figures such as Fred Rose and RCA Nashville's Stephen Sholes. She and Tommy Durden wrote "Heartbreak Hotel" in under half an hour after Durden was struck by a suicide note's line "I walk a lonely street"; Presley's 1956 recording became his first Hot 100 number one, with Axton adding him as co-writer so he could earn royalties. She also encouraged Willie Nelson to pursue songwriting in Nashville after hearing his demo tape, and decades later persuaded a teenage Blake Shelton, from her hometown of Ada, Oklahoma, to move to Nashville too.