Of the great singing stars of the 1940s and '50s, only one - Nat King Cole - died young, at age 45.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Most of us remember Nat King Cole as a vocalist. His warm, grainy baritone is still so closely identified with such familiar ballads as 'Stardust' and 'The Christmas Song' that it's hard to imagine anyone else performing them.
Probably more than anybody else, I loved Nat 'King' Cole as a performer - not only his singing but his piano playing. Whenever he had a new record come out, I'd get it and try to learn how he was playing. And he was one of the nicest people I'd ever met.
I respected Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. Those were my heroes, and they were 10 years older than I was.
Nat King Cole was a really big influence.
The Best of Elvis Presley, Doris Day, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Hailey and the Comets, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Frankie Laine all topped the charts in the '50s. Load a playlist of rock n' roll royalty. You're spoilt for choice.
Representing not just the resurrection of a career, 1953 marked 37-year-old Frank Sinatra's creative emergence as the best singer of his century.
In 20 years I had sold more records for RCA than any artist except Elvis Presley.
I think the '60s and '70s were the peak period for the singer-songwriter, for sure.
My grandmother passed at 104. She sang and wrote songs until she passed.
There have been many great musicians that, Clifford Brown is one great example, I mean he died very early, 25.