ROGER MILLER DIES OF CANCER AT AGE 56 BEST KNOWN FOR 'KING OF THE ROAD'

LOS ANGELES Roger Miller, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter whose folksy 1960s song ''King of the Road'' was a hit with both country and pop music fans, died Sunday of cancer. He was 56.

Miller died at Century City Hospital after a one-year battle with the disease, said hospital spokeswoman Lisa Gaines. The entertainer had announced in January that he was undergoing radiation treatment for a cancerous tumor below his vocal cords.

Miller, who also wrote the music for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical ''Big River,'' rose to fame in the 1960s with a string of songs that became hits on both the pop and country music charts. He won 11 Grammys during the years 1964 and 1965.

Besides ''King of the Road,'' his hits from that period included, ''Dang Me,'' ''Chug-a-Lug,'' ''England Swings'' and ''Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd.''

''Big River,'' based on ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,'' was Miller's first effort at writing for the stage. It won seven Tony awards in 1985, including one for best musical score. It ran on Broadway for 21/2 years.

Miller, who lived near Santa Fe, N.M., was known for his quick wit, down-home charm and mischevious grin.

Miller was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and his father died when he was a year old. His impoverished mother sent him to live with an aunt and uncle on a farm in Erick, Okla.

He dropped out of high school, took odd jobs and sang with bands in small towns throughout Texas and Oklahoma.

After serving in the Army in Korea, he tried his luck in Nashville, where he worked as a bellhop and began writing songs for such country stars as George Jones and Ernest Tubb and pop performers Andy Williams and Patti Page.

Miller's third wife, Mary, sang with Kenny Rogers & the First Edition in the 1960s and sang some with Miller after they married in 1975.