Who wrote hound dog?

Leiber and Stoller wrote the song "Hound Dog" in 12 to 15 minutes, with Leiber scribbling the lyrics in pencil on ordinary paper and without musical notation in the car on the way to Stoller's apartment. Said Leiber, "'Hound Dog' took like twelve minutes. That's not a complicated piece of work. But the rhyme scheme was difficult. read more

The first version of "Hound Dog" was recorded by a 25-year-old African-American rhythm and blues singer named Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. The song was a smash hit and sold almost two million copies. read more

Rare Live Performance from Big Mama Thornton. She was the first to sing Hound Dog. The song made her a star but she didn't make any money off of it. read more