Glendale nightclub pioneer helped launch iconic Colorado Boulevard club in 1979 and remained active manager for decades.
by Mark Smiley
Cowboy At Heart: George Miller poses with his horse.
George Miller, one of the original founders and longtime managers of the Glendale nightclub Shotgun Willie’s, died March 10, 2026. He was 87.
Born on September 25, 1938, for more than four decades, Miller was closely tied to the well-known club at Colorado Boulevard and East Virginia Avenue, a business that has been both a prominent Glendale landmark and a lightning rod for debate since it opened in 1979.
Miller helped launch Shotgun Willie’s with three friends who shared a love of country western music. The group opened the establishment as a country western bar at 490 South Colorado Boulevard, then the site of the Rondo Bar and the Bavarian Inn Restaurant. The club took its name from Willie Nelson’s 1973 album “Shotgun Willie,” and Nelson, who lived in Evergreen at the time, granted permission for the name and visited the bar in its early years.
Originally a country-themed nightclub, Shotgun Willie’s began featuring female dancers in 1982 and eventually grew into one of the region’s best-known adult entertainment venues.
Stanley Cup: George proudly hoists the 1996 Stanley Cup. Colorado defeated Florida in a four game sweep to win their first Stanley Cup.
Miller grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where his father was a physician and his mother a registered nurse. Although his father encouraged him to pursue medicine, Miller chose a different path.
“I never saw a man work harder in my life than my father,” Miller once said, noting that doctors in that era often worked long hours without significant financial reward.
After graduating from Colorado State University, Miller joined the Army Reserve during the period surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Crisis, and the Vietnam War. He later built a successful drywall contracting business before entering the nightclub industry with the opening of Shotgun Willie’s.
Although he was an original owner, Miller began working as a manager at the club in the early 1990s and remained involved in its day-to-day operations well into his seventies.
Known for his enthusiasm for the club and its patrons, Miller often described Shotgun Willie’s as more than a nightclub.
“From the beginning it has been, and continues today to be, essentially a friendly neighborhood bar,” he once said. “That’s why people who come in once return so often.”
Miller was also remembered for moments that linked the club to Colorado sports history. One of his favorite memories was when members of the Colorado Avalanche brought the Stanley Cup to the club after their championship victory, allowing Miller to raise the trophy overhead.
Outside of the nightclub business, Miller remained a dedicated horseman and dog trainer, interests he pursued regularly during trips to Texas for hunting and riding. Friends described him as a lifelong cowboy at heart.
Miller was married for more than 50 years and had two daughters and four grandchildren. One of his grandsons, Kelly, is a classical musician who has performed multiple times at Carnegie Hall, with Miller proudly attending the performances.
Even in his later years, Miller showed little interest in retirement. When Shotgun Willie’s celebrated the opening of a new building on adjoining land in 2013, he remained actively involved in the club and its future.
At the time, he said he hoped to be present for the club’s 50th anniversary, a milestone that would mark half a century since the Glendale establishment first opened its doors. That celebration will take place in 2032.
A celebration of life took place on March 25, 2026.
