Harry “Bing” Crosby
May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977
Bing Crosby was one of America’s most beloved entertainers, with a career that spanned over fifty years. As a pop singer, Crosby was a direct influence on the likes of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Dean Martin. He was so beloved, that in 1948 it was estimated that his songs made up more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours devoted to music on radio. He was also instrumental in the growth of the music industry itself. In the late ’40s, he heavily invested in Ampex, helping it develop the first commercial reel-to-reel recorder in North America. As for his music, he is credited with over 1700 recordings, almost 400 of which being top 30 hits, with over 40 making it to #1. It is rightfully assumed that if sales data was collected more accurately during the early part of his career, those numbers would be much higher. While vacatoining in Spain, Bing Crosby died of a massive heart attack while playing golf. He was 74 years old.
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