Which country singer recorded the 1959 hit “El Paso”?

Marty Robbins recorded the 1959 hit “El Paso.”

Robbins wrote the western ballad after seeing the city of El Paso from a hotel room while touring. The song tells a dramatic story involving a saloon, jealousy, violence, and a return to the Texas city. Its cinematic narrative and Spanish-influenced guitar figures distinguished it from many contemporary country singles.

“ El Paso” became one of Robbins’s signature recordings and topped both the country and pop charts. It also earned the Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Recording at the 1960 ceremony.

The song is sometimes confused with Robbins’s later recordings “Big Iron” and “They’re Hanging Me Tonight,” which also use Old West storytelling. Those songs belong to the same western-ballad tradition, but “El Paso” is specifically the 1959 chart hit centered on Felina and the narrator’s flight.