Kay Starr

Kay Starr
Singer

Catherine Laverne Starks was born on July 21, 1922 in Dougherty, Oklahoma, USA. At the age of three, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. She often sang around the house which attracted the attention of her aunt, with whom she entered and won a local talent contest at the age of seven. Young Catherine continued to enter talent contests and eventually landed a spot performing at WRR radio station in Dallas. She performs twice a week.

The family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when Catherine was 15 and she was given her own "star segment" on WREC station in Memphis. Due to many people mispronouncing her last name, she adopted the stage name "Kay Starr". During high school, she worked with various country music bands. She was discovered by jazz violinist Joe Venuti who secured a contract to perform at the hotel in the summer of 1937. For the next two summers, Starr performed alongside Venuti.

Kay Starr joined Bob Crosby's band. She went to New York City and sang with Crosby's band for two weeks until she was dismissed by the show's sponsors. She caught the attention of Glenn Miller. For two weeks, Starr performed at the Glen Island Casino alongside Miller's Orchestra. At age 16, Starr recorded her first songs with Miller's Orchestra: "Baby Me" and "Love with a Capital 'You'". The songs were not successful.

Kay Starr and her mother then returned to Memphis where she finished high school in 1940. She then moved to Los Angeles and worked with Venuti until 1941. She then signed with Wingy Manone's band. From 1943 to 1945 she sang with the Charlie Burnett Band. She quit singing for a year after contracting pneumonia. Starr began her solo career in 1946 and signed a contract with Capitol Records in 1947.

In 1950, Kay Starr contacted Roy Acuff's publishing company in Nashville. Acuff came up with a new lyric, and recorded "Bonaparte's Retreat", which became her biggest hit to that point and sold close to a million copies. In 1955, Kay Starr signed with RCA Victor Records. Se recorded "The Rock and Roll Waltz" in 1955, reaching number one on the Billboard charts in 1956. She remained at RCA Victor until 1959, then returned to Capitol.

Most of Kay Starr's songs had jazz influences. Like Frankie Line and Johnny Ray. She left the Capitol records in 1966. In the late 1980s she performed with Helen O'Connell and Margaret Whiting, and in 1993 she toured the UK as part of Pat Boone's April Love Tour. Her first live album, "Live at Freddy's", was released in 1997. She sang with Tony Bennett on his album "Plain' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues" (2001).

Kay Starr died on November 3, 2016 in Los Angeles at the age of 94..

Kay Starr Songs

* Bonaparte's Retreat (1950)

* Half a Photograph (1953)

* I'll Never Be Free (1950)

* If You Love Me (1954)

* Rock and Roll Waltz (1956)

* Side by Side (1953)

* Wheel of Fortune (1952)

More about Kay Starr

Kay Starr singing behind a microphone in 1945

Kay Starr talking to American actor Danny Kaye. Starr and Kaye were guesting on a coast to coast benefit show to raise funds for cancer relief in 1947.

Kay Starr sitting with sheet music in 1949.

Kay Starr with Producer Jack Wormser and bandleader Bob Crosby standing around an ABC microphone discussing a script problem in USA in 1950.

Kay Starr at the Dorchester Hotel in London, during a reception in her honor on 13th August 1953. She is appearing at the London Palladium for two weeks.

Kay Starr photo shoot in 1960.

Kay Starr at the Dinah Shore Chevy Show "Swingin' at the Summit" Episode 518 with Jazz musician Louis Armstrong and Tony Bennett on 10th October 1960.