Died On This Date (May 8, 1967) LaVerne Andrews / The Andrews Sisters
themusicsover LaVerne Andrews
July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967
LaVerne Andrews, along with her two younger sisters, Maxene and Patty were better known as the Andrews Sisters, the best-selling female vocal group in pop music history. Over their career, the Andrews’ recorded over 600 sides that sold over 75 million copies in all. They had 113 charted hits, 46 of which landing in the top 10, a feat that surpassed even Elvis Presley and the Beatles. The original group’s run can to an end when LaVerne died of cancer on May 8, 1967 at the age of 56.
What You Should Own
Cherie DeCastro was one-third of the original trio of singing siblings, the DeCastro Sisters. Formed while still young schoolgirls, they liked to think of themselves as the Cuban Andrews Sisters. In 1947, the trio sang on the premiere telecast of Los Angeles’ first television station, KTLA, and did it again to celebrate the station’s 50th anniversary in 1997. Their 1947 performance was on the first television broadcast west of the Mississippi River. That same year, the DeCastro Sisters made a memorable appearance in the popular film, Copacabana. During the ’50s, the DeCastro Sisters began making records and became a popular concert draw in Las Vegas. Their 1954 single, “Teach Me Tonight,” sold over 5 million copies. Cherie DeCastro died of pneumonia on March 14, 2010. She was 87 years old.