Song of the Day 2/8: Mojo Nixon, “Don Henley Must Die”

Mojo Nixon, who set his ribald mix of tabloid obsessions and anarchic politics to a raucous blend of punk and rockabilly, died Wednesday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the SiriusXM Outlaw Country Cruise he was hosting. Nixon, whose real name was Neil Kirby McMillan Jr., was 66.

Nixon had been creating his parody songs with Skid Roper for several years when “Elvis Is Everywhere,” a tune off their third LP, “Bo-Day-Shus!!!” became a surprise MTV and college radio hit in 1987. MTV even hired him to do promotional spots, a relationship that soured when the channel refused to air the video for “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child,” despite a star turn by Winona Ryder.

Nixon parted ways with Roper in 1989 and released a solo album, “Otis,” the next year. It included “Don Henley Must Die,” which reached No. 20 on the Modern Rock chart. Unfortunately, his record company folded soon after the LP’s release, killing his commercial momentum. Years later, Nixon was playing at an Austin club with Henley in attendance, and the Eagles drummer and vocalist joined him on stage to sing it. Nixon said the inebriated Henley was particularly enthusiastic on the line, “Don’t let him get back together with Glenn Frey!”

Nixon played with various people, including El Som’s fave roots rocker Dave Alvin, and put together a backing band, the Toadliquors, but was most visible over the past two decades as a DJ on SiriusXM. He died in his sleep after hosting a show the night before.

“I just want to be a tiny piece of the great American crazy myth,” he told and interviewer in 2017. “Not the story they tell in schools, not the story they tell in the movies, but the wild, crazy, free, nutjob on the outskirts of town story.”