Died On This Date (June 15, 2011) Mae Wheeler / Popular St. Louis Jazz Singer
themusicsover Mae Wheeler
May 15, 1934 – June 15, 2011
Mae Wheeler was a popular St. Louis singer who became affectionately known over the years as “Lady Jazz.” Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Wheeler began singing in church choirs as early as the age of 4, but soon moved to St. Louis with her family. As she got older, Wheeler began making a name for herself at the clubs throughout the city’s storied Gaslight Quarter of the 1960s. Over the course of her decades-long career, Wheeler shared the stage with such luminaries as Count Basie, Mitch Miller, and Pearl Bailey. She also released two CDs. During the mid-’90s, Wheeler launched an annual event that would eventually become known as “The Divas Show” and which showcased local young talent while raising money for charity. Mae Wheeler passed away on June 15, 2011 following a lengthy struggle with leukemia and colon cancer. She was 77.
Mitch Miller was many things – musician, record company executive, A&R man, singer, conductor, band leader and producer, but to millions of Americans he was the host of the popular television series and number one albums entitled Sing Along With Mitch. Although his music was far from rock ‘n roll, he is considered one of the most influential people in popular music. He is also often credited for inventing what would later be called karaoke because of the “bouncing ball” he used over the songs’ lyrics as the music was broadcast into homes during the ’50s and ’60s. As an A&R man and producer for Columbia Records, Miller helped create stars out of the likes of Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, and 
Jimmy Boyd was a popular ’50s and ’60s television actor as well as a singer and musician who is best remembered for his 1952 recording of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” Recorded just before he hit his teens, the song as gone on to sell an astonishing 60,000,000 copies ever since. Thanks to its popularity, Boyd became a popular fixture on The 
