Early years Born on October 6, 1944, in
Gulfport, Mississippi, into the pioneering
Southern gospel family,
The LeFevres, Mylon was the youngest son of Eva Mae and Urias LeFevre. When he was old enough, he began to sing and play guitar with the group. As a teen, LeFevre was expelled from a private religious high school when his father took him out of school to perform with the family at a local concert. When he was 17 years, he wrote his first song, "Without Him". While stationed at
Fort Jackson, South Carolina in the
U.S. Army, where he was paid $84 per month, the LeFevres performed at the
National Quartet Convention in
Memphis. That weekend, LeFevre hitchhiked over 600 miles to get there. Onstage, singing "Without Him", he did not know that
Elvis Presley was there. After the concert, Presley asked to meet LeFevre. Presley eventually recorded the song for his album,
How Great Thou Art; within the next year, over a hundred artists would record LeFevre's song. According to LeFevre, writing the song took about twenty minutes and produced an initial royalty check of approximately $90,000. With the money, he purchased his first car, a
Chevrolet Corvette, one of many sports cars he later owned. LeFevre wanted to write and sing contemporary music which gives glory to
God, but there seemed to be no place for his music—or his longer hair and long sideburns—in his family or the church.
1970s–early 1980s In 1970, LeFevre signed with
Columbia Records and formed the Holy Smoke Doo Dah Band with Auburn Burrell and J.P. Lauzon on guitar, drummer Marty Simon, Tom Robb on bass, and keyboardist Lester Langdale. From 1970 through 1980, he recorded and performed with
Eric Clapton,
Elton John,
Billy Joel,
Duane Allman,
Berry Oakley,
Little Richard, and
the Who among others. The album
On the Road to Freedom was produced by
Alvin Lee and recorded in
George Harrison's studio with
Ron Wood,
Steve Winwood,
Jim Capaldi, and
Mick Fleetwood, and released in 1973. Lee & Harrison are also contributing writers/musicians. In 1974, LeFevre appeared as a fill-in vocalist on several tracks for the
Atlanta Rhythm Section's album
Third Annual Pipe Dream. LeFevre began getting high to deal with the stress and to fit in. His drug use escalated to a near-fatal overdose of heroin in 1973. So LeFevre committed himself to a drug treatment program that year. Seven months later, he left clean. with Dean Harrington, Kenny Bentley (bass/vocals), Stan Coates (keyboards/vocals), Ben Hewitt (drums/percussion), and Mike Adams as members. Other musicians who helped with the first album were Joe Hardy (bass, guitars, percussion), John Hampton (drums),
Ed DeGarmo (of
DeGarmo and Key; organ/synthesizer), Jack Holder (guitar/background vocals),
Phil Driscoll (trumpet/flugelhorn). Later members of the band included Tim Huffman (guitars/vocals) and Scott Allen (rhythm guitar/vocals). Other musicians who helped with Mylon and Broken Heart albums over the years were
Kerry Livgren (of
Kansas),
Phil Keaggy, Ed Zimmerman,
The 2nd Chapter of Acts, the group Sevenfold, and
Jimi Jamison. Two more albums came out in 1983,
More and
Live Forever (recorded at
Six Flags Over Georgia). Over the next decade, the group released 10 albums and traveled over a million miles. In 1986, the group attempted to cross over to mainstream rock by rechristening itself as 'Look Up' and they released an album with that name on
CBS Associated. The album contains a retooled update of "Peace Begins Within" from the
Mylon (We Believe) album and a cover of DeGarmo and Key's "Love is All You Need". Over the years guitarists Scott Allen, David Payton, Michael Tyrrell, Trent Argante, and Skip Benicky in addition to keyboardists Stan Coates, Paul Joseph, and Marshall Pratt were members. Many members of Broken Heart have become solo artists, music producers, worship leaders, pastors, and teachers. In 1987, the band received a Rock Album of the Year
GMA Dove Award for
Crack the Sky. In the same year, they received a
Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance by a Duo, Group, Choir, or Chorus. About the period (1982–1991), LeFevre said, "I was a Christian musician who preached a little, worshiped a little, and rocked a lot." After his heart attack, LeFevre increasingly turned to preaching and teaching as his vocation. He and his wife Christi ministered in about 75 churches a year. He spoke at motorcycle rallies,
NASCAR owner/driver chapel services,
NFL and
NBA chapel services as well as in Russia, Australia, Canada, the Philippines, the Cayman Islands, and Mexico. In 2003 he released
Bow Down, produced by his son-in-law
Peter Furler of the
Newsboys, a Christian band. The couple's home church was
Eagle Mountain International Church in
Newark, Texas northwest of
Fort Worth. == Personal life and death ==