My first cousin became a moderately successful singer tho never famous. I once mentioned to him that another friend of mine learned “House of the Rising Sun” as his first song.
He replied that just about everybody played that song early in their career.
It’s pretty much the first song people try to play when they are learning how to play the guitar.
Indeed. It’s origin may go back to England before 1600, and it has been regularly recorded since the 1930s. Roy Acuff is probably the first ‘pop music’ artist to record it. Even Andy Griffith has recorded it.
Its kind of funny. When the Animals were just starting out in Great Britain they went by the name “The Kansas City 5”.