Kay Starr
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Kay Starr is an American jazz and popular singer. She is a solid jazz singer whose ascendancy into the commercial sphere during the mid ’50s which led her to be among the first pop singers to capitalize on the "rock fad". Her biggest hit, came with the era-defining "Wheel of Fortune".
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About
Kay Starr or "Katherine Laverne Starks" in real life was born on July 21, 1922 at Dougherty, Oklahoma to "Asa Starks", an employee of the Texas Automatic Sprinkler Company and "Annie Sparks", an employee of the Works Progress Administration. Her father Harry was a full-blooded Iroquois Indian, and her mother Annie was Irish. When she was three, the family moved to Dallas, Texas where Harry worked at the Texas Automated Sprinkler Company as an installer and Annie raised chickens at their home. It was here that Kay first began singing at the age of nine. Her aunt, Nora, heard her singing and entered her in a yo yo contest at radio station WRR where she sang and won third prize. As a result of her father's changing jobs, her family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Kay later competed in a series of talent contests at the Dallas Melba Theater and won three times, triggering the station manager to offer her a fifteen minute program of her own, three times a week. Soon after Kay landed her own show, Starr Time, on WREC in Memphis, along with being a featured singer on the stations popular Saturday Night Jamboree program.It was also at this time that Katherine Starks changed her name to Kay Starr in the wake of constant misspellings in fan letters.
At the age of fifteen, she already sang with Grand Old Opry legend Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Kay’s first big break came in 1937 when bandleader/violinist Joe Venuti came to Memphis to play the Peabody Hotel. After Joe’s road manager heard Kay on the radio, both he and Venuti went to her home to discuss hiring her with her parents. They agreed, provided she would be accompanied and returned home before midnight because she was still in junior high school. That same year she briefly appeared with Bob Crosby and his Bobcats on the syndicated Chesterfield Supper Club in Detroit. In July 1939 Kay joined up with the "Glenn Miller Orchestra" to replace an ailing Marion Hutton. Kay recorded the single, "Baby Love" and "Love" with the band. When her two weeks with the Miller Orchestra were up, Kay moved to California and returned to work with "Joe Venuti". This lasted until 1941 when the general draft call-up for World War II forced Venuti to break up his band.
After finishing high school, she moved to Los Angeles and signed with Wingy Manone's band; then from 1943 to 1945 she sang with Charlie Barnet's band. She then retired for a year because she developed pneumonia and later developed nodes on her vocal cords, and lost her voice as a result of fatigue and overwork. She was ordered by the doctor to cease talking, whispering, and to abandon singing until she healed. When her voice returned, it was much huskier and tighter. Settling in Los Angeles, Kay began her career as a solo performer. Kay was invited by Dave Dexter of Capitol Records to sing two songs as part of the labels all-star Volumes of Jazz series in March of 1945. Soon after she went on to make several singles of jazz classics in 1946 for small independent labels like Lamplighter, Standard and Jewell.
In 1946, Kay signed on to the newly formed Capitol Records by "Dave Dexter" after he had heard her sing in a local nightclub. Her first single under the said label, "I’m The Lonesomest Gal In Town", enjoyed success on the west coast regional Top Thirty Chart, and her cover of Russ Morgan’s "So Tired" became her first top ten hit in January of 1949. Other hit singles includes "Half a Photograph," "Allez Vous En," "Crazy", "Kay's Lament", and "Bonaparte's Retreat" which became her biggest single. The single has sold one million copies. The single, "Wheel of Fortune" earned Kay her first gold record and went on to become the number two top selling single of 1952.
Kay signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records in 1955. She again hit the American and British charts in January 1956 with her million selling gold record "The Rock And Roll Waltz.". The single rose to number one on the charts in the United States and it made it to the top ten in the United Kingdom. It was also considered the first hit by a female vocalist in the newly issued in "Rock and Roll Era". She stayed at RCA Victor until 1959, then returned to Capitol.
Like many of the great pop vocalists of the 1940s and 1950s, Kay’s popularity began to fade in the 1960s. She left Capital Records in 1966 and continued to tour in the US and England. She retired in the music industry in the 70's to devote more time to her family life. However, she still performs occasionally in nightclubs and concert venues. In the ’90s, she played several oldies packages, including the "3 Girls 3 Tour" with Helen O’Connell and Margaret Whiting. Her live album, Live At Freddy's, was released in 1997.
Awards & Certifications
Chart Toppers
News
Tours & Concerts
There are no current tour and concert schedules for Kay Starr.
Announcements
There are no announcements as of this time
Discography
Albums
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Singles
Compilations & Live Releases
| Date | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | The Uncollected Kay Starr: In the 1940's | Vanguard |
| 1948 | Capitol Collector Series | Capitol |
| 1953 | The Hits of Kay Starr | Capitol |
| 1961 | All Star Hits | Capitol |
| 1976 | Kay Starr's Again | Capitol |
| 1980 | Wheel of Fortune & Other Hits | Capitol |
| 1991 | Greatest Hits | Curb |
| 1991 | Moon Beams and Steamy Dreams | Stash |
| 1995 | Spotlight on Kay | Capitol |
| 1995 | Incomparable | Fat Boy |
| 1995 | Kay Starr, Vol.2 | Hindsight |
| 1996 | Brilliant Starr | Demand Performance |
| 1997 | Sings Standards | Hallmark |
| 1997 | Rising Starr | Jasmine |
| 1997 | Live at Freddy's | Baldwin Street Music |
| 1998 | I've Got To Sing 1944-1948:The Metronome Series | Helo |
| 1998 | Side by Side | Entertainers |
| 1998 | The RCA Years | Collector's Choice Music |
| 1999 | Complete Lamplighter Recordings 1945-1946 | Baldwin Street Music |
| 1999 | The Essential RCA Singles Collection | Taragon |
| 1999 | For You | Ronco Silver |
| 1999 | Swings The Standards | Charly |
| 2000 | The Collection | EMI |
| 2000 | Best of The Standard Transcriptions | Soundless |
| 2000 | Twenty Classics | Planet Media |
| 2001 | The Magic Kay Starr | EMI |
| 2001 | Cocktail Hour | Columbia River |
| 2001 | Sweetheart of Song | Collectors' Choice Music |
| 2001 | Original Studio Radio Transcriptions | Swing Factory |
| 2002 | Kay Starr | Classic Workd |
| 2002 | Definitive Kay Starr on Capitol | Collectors' Choice Music |
| 2002 | Stardust | Simply The Best |
| 2002 | Rockin With Kay/I Hear The Word | Collectables |
| 2002 | The One, The Only Kay Starr | Collectables |
| 2002 | Jazz Singer/The Fabulous Favorites | EMI |
| 2003 | Superb Starr | Dutton Vocalion |
| 2003 | For Real | Proper Pairs |
| 2003 | Wheel of Fortune | ASV |
| 2003 | The Ultimate Kay Starr | EMI |
| 2003 | The Fabulous Kay Starr | Xtra |
| 2004 | Don't Meddle | Hallmark |
| 2005 | Legendary Song Stylist | Castle Pulse |
| 2006 | Kay Starr: The Best of The Standard... | Soundless |
| 2006 | Just Plain Country | EMI |
| 2007 | The Ultimate Collection | Capitol |
| 2007 | Many Moods of Kay Starr | GNP |
| 2007 | Please Love Me | Hindsight |
Other artists
Similar artists
Contemporaries
Influences
Trivia
- Kay became the Hit Parade Number One Female Performer of the Year.
- Kay married six times.
