Often referred to as "America's Crooner," Bing Crosby was the defining male singer of his time and one of the most popular and successful stars of the 20th century. He dominated the recording, film, and radio industries for 30 years. Crosby's soft, conversational singing style, which critic Will Friedwald has described as a "warm B-flat baritone with a little hair on it" (1990), appealed to a broad audience of Amer­icans and helped establish American popular song as both a legitimate art form and an extremely profitable mass media industry. Crosby's relaxed, modest star persona, folksy charm, and quick wit also contributed greatly to his success. The informality of his radio variety show and his easy banter with guests made listeners feel especially comfortable with him and ensured Crosby a prominent place in the hearts of millions.

     Harry Lillis Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington. His birth date is a matter of dispute, but the most recent research puts it at 3 May 1903. His father worked as a bookkeeper, while his Irish-Catholic mother raised the brood of seven Crosby children. Strong-willed, practical, and religiously devout, his mother was the strongest influence on Crosby's life, and he was her favorite child. Both parents were amateur musicians and encouraged a sense of popular music appreciation in their children. A bright but unmotivated student, young Bing was best known for his charm and his habit of whistling or humming while he walked. He earned his nickname because of his attachment to a humor feature called the "Bingville Bugle" in Spokane's Sunday paper.

     In 1920 Crosby entered Gonzaga College and joined an amateur band as a drummer and singer (using a megaphone). His life changed course in 1923 when he met Al Rinker, another amateur bandleader and the brother of blues singer Mildred Bailey. Al persuaded Bing to join his band; after the band dissolved in 1925, the two men left Spokane for Los Angeles to try to make it in the big time. Mildred provided them with connections, and their act, "Two Boys and a Piano," proved so successful that they were hired by bandleader Paul Whiteman in late 1926. Whiteman paired the boys with Harry Barris, an up-and-coming musician and songwriter, and the trio became famous as the Rhythm Boys, recording and singing Barris songs such as "Mississippi Mud." They sang in a modern, jazz-influenced, intimate style that was new to most audiences. In 1930 the trio left Whiteman and signed to play with Gus Arnheim's Orchestra at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles. Crosby frequently sang solos with the band, but he eventually left the trio and became well known as a solo performer to radio and nightclub audiences in the Los Angeles area. In September 1930 he married Fox starlet Dixie Lee, who was a much bigger star at the time.

     Crosby emerged as a star himself in 1931 with the release of the short film / Surrender Dear in the summer (made in part to promote his new hit single) and the debut of his nightly 15- minute radio program for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in the fall. CBS built him up as a crooner to rival the National Broadcasting Company's (NBC) original crooner, Rudy Vallee, and by December, Crosby, Russ Columbo (also at NBC), and Vallee were the most popular singers in the nation. Crosby's public image, however, was more controversial.

     He had missed the debut of his New York radio show because of his drinking, and he was widely regarded in the industry as unstable. In response to criticism, Crosby worked hard to change his playboy image; fan magazines helped by promoting Crosby as a devoted husband and father (son Gary was born in 1933) whose wild days were behind him. This image better suited the more socially conservative Depression years and helped ensure Crosby a broad audience. In addition, Crosby enlarged his repertoire of songs beyond romantic crooning bal­ l ads. His music producer at Decca Records, Jack Kapp, believed that Crosby could become a type of "musical every­ man" by singing a variety of songs, including cowboy songs, Hawaiian songs, hymns, and holiday songs. His film career for Paramount Studios, which signed him in 1932, followed a similar formula, presenting Crosby in a variety of roles that underlined his cool, relaxed persona and his comic as well as his singing talents.

     In 1936 his radio career hit a new high when he took over as host of the popular NBC variety show The Kraft Music Hall and remained there for ten years. This hour-long program starred Crosby as the host and primary vocalist and featured a number of comic players and star musicians. Crosby's comic sidekick, Bob Burns, known as the "Arkansas Traveler," amused audiences with his rube humor and remained with the program until 1941. His bandleader, John Scott Trotter, replaced Jimmy Dorsey in 1937 and remained with Crosby until the end of his radio career. As John Dunning (1998) has noted, Burns' humor helped balance the more serious musicians who appeared on the program, including a number of accomplished classical and jazz artists such as Jose Iturbi, Duke Ellington, and Jack Teagarden. Broadway star Mary Martin spent a year on the show in 1942, as did Victor Borge, a Danish concert pianist who served as an additional comic foil. The show also created new stars, such as Spike Jones and Jerry Colonna, both of whom were originally members of Trotter's band.

     Crosby's personality held the show together, and he shaped it to suit his easy going personality. Unlike other variety shows of the time, for example, Crosby wanted no applause after numbers, because he thought it slowed the pace of his program. Guest stars were treated with an informality that belied their importance and made them seem like members of the gang, and Crosby's own self-deprecating humor underlined the "every­ man" quality so essential to his image. His witty delivery seemed so natural and effortless that fans did not believe the program was scripted. At the same time, however, Crosby was clearly in charge of his program and would walk out of rehears­als if he became annoyed. In 1945 he left both NBC and his sponsor when they refused to consider the possibility of taping his programs rather than performing them live. The technology for taping had been developed during the war, and Crosby wanted the greater scheduling flexibility it could offer him. NBC thought audiences would not tune in to canned entertainment, so Crosby walked out and moved his variety program to the American Broadcasting Companies (ABC). His Philco Radio Time show ran for three years very successfully, and Crosby's program is credited as initiating the tape era in radio.

     Crosby's radio career continued through the mid-195os with various variety shows, although none was as successful as those of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared on various television specials and occasionally in films until his death on a Spanish golf course in 1977. His reputation has taken a beating since then: biographers have portrayed Crosby as an emotionally distant man, cold to his first wife and children, inflexible, and miserly. For better or worse, however, Crosby remains what Life magazine called him in 1945: "an American institution.”