Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (May 2, 1903 - October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. Bing Crosby's influence on popular culture and popular music is considerable, as from 1934 to 1954 he held a nearly unrivaled command of record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses. He is usually considered to be a member of popular music's "holy trinity" of ultra-icons, alongside Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Bing Crosby popularized singing with conversational ease, or 'crooning'. His musical interpretations amalgamated rhythm and romance with scat singing, whistling, rhythmic improvisation and melodic paraphrasing as elements of a hotter, sexier sound than had been conceived before. Crosby is also credited as being the major inspiration for most of the male singers that followed him, including the likes of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Dean Martin. Tony Bennett summed up Crosby's impact, stating, "Bing created a culture. He contributed more to popular music than any other person - he moulded popular music. Every singer in the business has taken something from Crosby. Every male singer has a Bing Crosby idiosyncracy." Crosby's recording of White Christmas is recognized as the best-selling single in any music category with over 40 million copies sold. In 1962, Crosby was the first person to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.