Gaetano “Guy” Lombardo
June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977
Guy Lombardo was an internationally famous band leader whose yearly New Year’s Eve shows were broadcast across the United States for many years. Lombardo’s music career began in 1924, and by the ’30s, he and his group were the most popular dance band in the country. He and his orchestra performed at New York’s famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel for three decades, and the radio and television broadcasts of their New Year’s Eve shows laid the foundation for New Year’s Eve broadcasts to come. In fact, it’s Lombardo’s version of “Auld Lang Syne” that is played in New York’s Times Square (and countless other locations) every year. Several sources have indicated that over the course of his career, Lombardo likely sold as many as 300 million records. Guy Lombardo continued to perform right up until the time of his death in 1977. He passed away at the age of 75.