Artists > Billy Eckstine

BILLY ECKSTINE

This page contains Billy Eckstine songs, albums and video links. Music profile for Billy Eckstine with events, tracks, videos, pictures, lyrics and band information.

Billy Eckstine similar artists

Billy Eckstine (8 July, 1914 – 8 March, 1993), born William Clarence Eckstein in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a ballad singer and bandleader of the Swing Era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular music.

Records from ancestry.com indicate that the singer has an interesting genealogy. His grandparents were William F. Eckstein and Nannie Eckstein, a mixed race, lawfully married couple who lived in Washington D.C.; both were born in the year 1863. William F. was born in Prussia and Nannie in Virginia.

An influence looming large in the cultural development of soul and R&B singers from Sam Cooke to Prince, Eckstine was able to play it straight on his pop hits "Prisoner of Love (1931 song)|Prisoner of Love," "My Foolish Heart (song)|My Foolish Heart" and "I Apologize (song)|I Apologize." Raised in Washington, D.C., Eckstine began singing at the age of seven and entered many amateur talent shows. He had also planned on a football career, but after breaking his collar bone, he made music his focus. After working his way west to Chicago, Eckstine joined Earl Hines' Grand Terrace Orchestra in 1939, staying with the band as vocalist and, occasionally, trum... read all

Artists > Billy Eckstine

BILLY ECKSTINE

Billy Eckstine similar artists

Billy Eckstine top albums

Billy Eckstine top songs and lyrics

Billy Eckstine videos

Billy Eckstine Pictures

Events for Billy Eckstine

Billy Eckstine fans

Music