Hank Cochran, born on 2 August 1935 in Isola, Mississippi, became one of country music's most prolific songwriters, notching 29 top 10 hits over a 30-year career. His compositions include Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and "She's Got You," George Strait's "The Chair," and "Don't Touch Me" by Jeannie Seely, who was also his fourth wife. He also had modest success as a performer, with his song "Sally Was a Good Old Girl" reaching number 20 on the US country chart in 1962.

Cochran had a difficult upbringing, surviving serious childhood illness, his parents' divorce, and time in a Memphis orphanage before being raised by his grandparents in Greenville, Mississippi. After moving to Nashville in 1960 to take a $50-a-week staff writing job, he scored his first number one within a year and went on to write hits for artists including Loretta Lynn, Mickey Gilley, Ronnie Milsap and Merle Haggard, following his self-described philosophy of keeping songs "short, sweet" and rhyming. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008, Cochran died in Nashville on 15 July 2010 at the age of 74.