Bing Crosby

In 1930, he married actress/singer Dixie Lee and the couple had four sons. She passed away due to ovarian cancer in 1952.

In 1957, he married actress Kathryn Grant and the couple had three children.

He died of a heart attack while playing golf in Madrid.

Harry Lillis Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington, but moved to Spokane, Washington at the age of three. He was the fourth his seven siblings.

In 1910, a neighbour began calling him ‘Bingo from Bingville’, which was taken from his favourite comic strip, ‘The Bingville Bugle’. The nickname, after dropping the last vowel, became his name for the rest of his life.

In the summer of 1917, he worked as a property boy at the ‘Spokane’s Auditorium’, where he watched several acts, which fascinated him.

He studied in a Catholic school and later, went to Gonzaga High School. He studied law at the Gonzaga University, but later dropped college to accomplish his musical dream, and joined a band, ‘Musicaladers’.

In 1925, he joined vocalist, Al Rinker and they became extremely popular with their vaudeville act, ‘Two Boys and a Piano’, where the performance consisted of individual or combined acts by singers, actors etc. Later, Al Rinker’s brother introduced them to a famous bandleader, Paul Whiteman.

The Crosby-Rinker duo became a trio after Whiteman introduced Harry Barris, a songwriter and pianist, into the group, which they called ‘The Rhythm Boys’. The ‘Rhythm Boys’ performed with Paul Whiteman and soon enough Crosby tasted success.

In 1931, the ‘Rhythm Boys’ appeared in his first sound motion picture, ‘King of Jazz’.

In 1932, he launched his first radio program on the CBS radio station in New York City, which broadcasted his massive hit songs like ‘I found a Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘At Your Command’. His show was aired for nearly 30 years.

He also starred in ‘The Big Broadcast’, an American ‘musical comedy’ film, which he signed with Paramount pictures.

His song ‘White Christmas’, which was first used in the musical film, ‘Holiday Inn’, became an instant hit with the masses. After being included in the music charts on October 3, 1942, it rose to the no.1 position on October 31, 1942. It charted the billboard countdown for 11 weeks and sold nearly 100 million copies, along with earning the title of ‘best-selling single of all time’.