BING CROSBY

Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby Jr. on May 3, 1903 in Tacoma, Washington, and was an American singer, comedian, actor and one could even say the first multimedia star.

Beginning his solo career in 1931, Bing Crosby made his nationwide solo radio debut with a weekly 15-minute radio broadcast which led to him being signed, and by the end of the year he’d featured on ten of the Top 50 songs of that year.

Bing Crosby was a busy man during this period, starting a family, a film career (notably with Bob Hope) and literally saving the music industry during the Great Depression in 1934 when he suggested that singles should be cheaper than a dollar, leading to many acts signing to Decca because of Bing’s influence.

Bing Crosby worked throughout World War II, as well as entertaining troops and learning German from sight as to be able to read propaganda messages, and was christened Der Bingle by his German listeners. Bing Crosby’s biggest hit was his recording of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, which he introduced on a Christmas Day radio broadcast in 1941, and won an Academy Award for Best Song.

Crosby was one of the biggest artists in US chart history and was responsible for popularising tapes when he would pre-record his radio shows and was shown recording himself in the movie Mr Music which basically invented the home taping revolution.

Bing Crosby’s UK Official Chart career saw only a fraction of his songs become successful, with White Christmas only reaching Number 5 and that was in the 1970s. The release of White Christmas pre-dated the chart, so Bing wasn't actually the first person to chart White Christmas in the UK, that honour went to crooner Pat Boone in 1957.

Bing Crosby scored a posthumous festive hit with a duet with David Bowie – Peace on Earth/ Little Drummer Boy – taken from his 1977 Christmas TV special filmed shortly before he died that October and released as a single in 1982. Bing Crosby passed away on October 14, 1977 after flying to Spain to enjoy a game of golf and collapsing from a heart attack 20 yards away from the clubhouse.