Gene Austin

American singer and songwriter, he is considered to have been the first "crooner".
Born: June 24, 1900 in Gainesville, Texas, United States Died: January 24, 1972 in Palm Springs, California, United States. He was married to actress/singer/songwriter Pony Sherrell.

After performing off and on in local taverns and in vaudeville since he was a teenager, Austin first had success as a songwriter. His 1924 song "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" (written with his vaudeville partner, Victor studio for a number of solo recordings.

Austin's soft, clear, and laid-back tenor voice was a good fit for the electronic recording technology introduced in early 1925 and made him one of the originators of the "crooner" style of singing (along with other singers of the time like "Ukuele Ike" Otto Heimal (a.k.a. "Coco"). He also performed in several movies.

In 1978, Gene Austin was posthumously awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for his 1928 recording of "My Blue Heaven". In 2005, his 1926 recording of "Bye, Bye, Blackbird" received the same honor.