Kay Starr

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About Kay Starr

Kay Starr was a singer and radio icon who charted more than 50 hits in jazz, pop, and country music. ∙ Raised on an Iroquois reservation during the Great Depression, Starr showed an incredible vocal talent from a young age and made her radio debut at age 10. ∙ She became a radio star and sang for big band leaders Joe Venuti, Bob Crosby, and Glenn Miller—all before she graduated high school. ∙ After signing to Capitol Records, she released her debut solo album, Songs By Kay Starr, in 1950. ∙ In 1952, Starr topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with “Wheel of Fortune,” a Gold-certified hit later inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. ∙ She earned one of the first chart-topping hits of the rock ’n’ roll era with her 1956 Gold-certified single “(The) Rock and Roll Waltz.” ∙ Embracing jazz in the ’60s, she teamed with legendary bandleader and jazz pioneer Count Basie for the 1969 collaborative album How About This.

HOMETOWN
Dougherty, OK, United States
BORN
21 July 1922
GENRE
Pop

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