Kay Starr

Kay Starr was a singer and radio icon who charted more than 50 hits in jazz, pop, and country music. ∙ Raised on an Iroquois reservation during the Great Depression, Starr showed an incredible vocal talent from a young age and made her radio debut at age 10. ∙ She became a radio star and sang for big band leaders Joe Venuti, Bob Crosby, and Glenn Miller—all before she graduated high school. ∙ After signing to Capitol Records, she released her debut solo album, Songs By Kay Starr, in 1950. ∙ In 1952, Starr topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with “Wheel of Fortune,” a Gold-certified hit later inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. ∙ She earned one of the first chart-topping hits of the rock ’n’ roll era with her 1956 Gold-certified single “(The) Rock and Roll Waltz.” ∙ Embracing jazz in the ’60s, she teamed with legendary bandleader and jazz pioneer Count Basie for the 1969 collaborative album How About This.