Curated playlist
American torch singers
- Whitney HoustonWhitney Houston sold more than 220 million records and carried a nickname that needed no first name: "the Voice". She was born in 1963 and died in 2012. In between, she became one of the most awarded performers in history. In 2023, Rolling…
- Billie HolidayBillie Holiday died with seventy cents in the bank. She earned $250,000 in the three years before her 1947 arrest.
- Marilyn MonroeAn unimpressed studio head signed Marilyn Monroe specifically to keep her away from a rival studio.
- Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald walked onstage at the Apollo Theater planning to dance, then chose to sing. She was 17 in 1934.
- Judy GarlandMGM fired Judy Garland in 1950, and Bing Crosby invited her onto his radio show. The audience gave her an ovation.
- Bing CrosbyBing Crosby had to re-record "White Christmas" in 1947 because the 1942 master had worn out.
- Mariah CareyMariah Carey handed her demo tape to a record boss at a party in December 1988. He turned his car around.
- CherCher, the American singer and actress born Cheryl Sarkisian, first reached radio in 1964 with a record that programmers misjudged. The single was “Ringo, I Love You,” produced by Phil Spector and released under the name Bonnie Jo Mason.…
- Lana Del ReyLana Del Rey was born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, and for years she performed under names that almost nobody remembers. One of them was Sparkle Jump Rope Queen. Another was May Jailer. These were the stage identities of a young American…
- Roy OrbisonRoy Orbison died weeks after finishing the best-selling album of his career. He never heard Mystery Girl released.
- Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand once filed a lawsuit that sent a crowd of strangers to look at a single photograph. In 2003 she claimed that a website documenting coastal erosion had invaded her privacy. Among its more than 12,000 images, one happened to…