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Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed " Satchmo ", " Satch ", and " Pops ", was an American trumpeter and vocalist . He was among the most influential figures in jazz . His career spanned five decades and several eras in the history of jazz. He received numerous accolades including the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance for Hello, Dolly! in 1965, as well as a posthumous win for the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972, and the induction into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2017.

Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans . Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. Around 1922, he followed his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver , to Chicago to play in the Creole Jazz Band  [fr] . He earned a reputation at "cutting contests", and his fame reached band leader Fletcher Henderson . He moved to New York City , where he became a featured and musically influential band soloist and recording artist. By the 1950s, he was a national musical icon, assisted in part, by his appearances on radio and in film and television, in addition to his concerts.

His best known songs include "What a Wonderful World", "La Vie en Rose", "Hello, Dolly!", "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "When You're Smiling" and " When the Saints Go Marching In ". He collaborated with Ella Fitzgerald producing three records together Ella and Louis (1956), Ella and Louis Again (1957), and Porgy and Bess (1959). He also appeared in films such as A Rhapsody in Black and Blue (1932), Cabin in the Sky (1943), High Society (1956), Paris Blues (1961), A Man Called Adam (1966), and Hello, Dolly! (1969).

With his instantly recognizable rich, gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer and skillful improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song. He was also skilled at scat singing . By the end of Armstrong's life, his influence had spread to popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first popular African-American entertainers to "cross over" to wide popularity with white (and international) audiences. He rarely publicly politicized his race, to the dismay of fellow African Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock crisis . He was able to access the upper echelons of American society at a time when this was difficult for black men.

Riverboat education

Chicago recordings, fletcher henderson orchestra, the hot five, the harlem renaissance, emerging as a vocalist, work during hard times, reviving his career with the all stars, a jazz ambassador, pronunciation of name, personality, health problems, personal habits, social organizations, horn playing and early jazz, vocal popularity, colleagues and followers, hits and later career, stylistic range, film, television, and radio, grammy awards, grammy hall of fame, rock and roll hall of fame, inductions and honors, film honors, discography.

Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901. His parents were Mary Estelle "Mayann" Albert and William Armstrong. Mary Albert was from Boutte, Louisiana , and gave birth at home when she was about sixteen. Less than a year and a half later, they had a daughter, Beatrice "Mama Lucy" Armstrong (1903–1987), who was raised by Albert. William Armstrong abandoned the family shortly thereafter.

Louis Armstrong was raised by his grandmother until the age of five when he was returned to his mother. He spent his youth in poverty in a rough neighborhood known as The Battlefield, on the southern section of Rampart Street. At six he attended the Fisk School for Boys, a school that accepted black children in the racially segregated system of New Orleans.

At the age of 6, Armstrong lived with his mother and sister and worked for the Karnoffskys, a family of Lithuanian Jews, at their home. He would help their two sons, Morris and Alex, collect "rags and bones" and deliver coal. In 1969, while recovering from heart and kidney problems at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, Armstrong wrote Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, LA., the year of 1907 , a memoir describing his time working for the Karnofsky family.

Armstrong writes about singing "Russian Lullaby" with the Karnofsky family when their baby son David was put to bed and credits the family with teaching him to sing "from the heart." Curiously, Armstrong quotes lyrics for it that appear to be the same as the "Russian Lullaby", copyrighted by Irving Berlin in 1927, about twenty years after Armstrong remembered singing it as a child. Gary Zucker, Armstrong's doctor at Beth Israel hospital in 1969, shared Berlin's song lyrics with him, and Armstrong quoted them in the memoir. This inaccuracy may simply be because he wrote the memoir over 60 years after the events described. Regardless, the Karnoffskys treated Armstrong extremely well. Knowing he lived without a father, they fed and nurtured him.

In his memoir, Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907 , he described his discovery that this family was also subject to discrimination by "other white folks" who felt that they were better than Jews: "I was only seven years old but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the white folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for." He wrote about what he learned from them: "how to live—real life and determination." His first musical performance may have been at the side of the Karnoffskys' junk wagon. To distinguish them from other hawkers, he tried playing a tin horn to attract customers. Morris Karnoffsky gave Armstrong an advance toward the purchase of a cornet from a pawn shop. Armstrong wore a Star of David until the end of his life in memory of this family who had raised him.

When Armstrong was eleven, he dropped out of school. His mother moved into a one-room house on Perdido Street with Armstrong, Lucy, and her common-law husband, Tom Lee, next door to her brother Ike and his two sons. Armstrong joined a quartet of boys who sang in the streets for money. He also got into trouble. Cornetist Bunk Johnson said he taught the eleven-year-old to play by ear at Dago Tony's honky tonk. (In his later years Armstrong credited King Oliver.) He said about his youth, "Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans ... It has given me something to live for."

Borrowing his stepfather's gun without permission, he fired a blank into the air and was arrested on December 31, 1912. He spent the night at New Orleans Juvenile Court, then was sentenced the next day to detention at the Colored Waif's Home. Life at the home was spartan. Mattresses were absent; meals were often little more than bread and molasses. Captain Joseph Jones ran the home like a military camp and used corporal punishment.

Armstrong developed his cornet skills by playing in the band. Peter Davis, who frequently appeared at the home at the request of Captain Jones, became Armstrong's first teacher and chose him as bandleader. With this band, the thirteen-year-old Armstrong attracted the attention of Kid Ory .

On June 14, 1914, Armstrong was released into the custody of his father and his new stepmother, Gertrude. He lived in this household with two stepbrothers for several months. After Gertrude gave birth to a daughter, Armstrong's father never welcomed him, so he returned to his mother, Mary Albert. In her small home, he had to share a bed with his mother and sister. He found a job as a musician at a dance hall owned by Henry Ponce. There he met the six-foot tall drummer Black Benny, who became his guide and bodyguard.

He briefly studied shipping management at the local community college, but was forced to quit after being unable to afford the fees. While selling coal in Storyville, he heard spasm bands, groups that played music out of household objects. He heard the early sounds of jazz from bands that played in dance halls such as Pete Lala's, where King Oliver performed.

Early in his career, Armstrong played in brass bands and riverboats in New Orleans, first on an excursion boat in September 1918. He traveled with the band of Fate Marable , which toured on the steamboat Sidney with the Streckfus Steamers line up and down the Mississippi River. Marable was proud of his musical knowledge, and he insisted that Armstrong and other musicians in his band learn sight reading . Armstrong described his time with Marable as "going to the University", since it gave him a wider experience working with written arrangements . In 1919, Armstrong's mentor, King Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Ory's band; Armstrong replaced him. He also became second trumpet for the Tuxedo Brass Band.

Throughout his riverboat experience, Armstrong's musicianship began to mature and expand. At twenty, he could read music. He became one of the first jazz musicians to be featured on extended trumpet solos, injecting his own personality and style. He also started singing in his performances.

In 1922, Armstrong moved to Chicago at the invitation of King Oliver, although Armstrong would return to New Orleans periodically for the rest of his life. Playing second cornet to Oliver in Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in the black-only Lincoln Gardens in Chicago's black neighborhood, he could make enough money to quit his day jobs. Although race relations were poor, Chicago was booming. The city had jobs for blacks making good wages at factories with some left over for entertainment.

Oliver's band was among the most influential jazz bands in Chicago in the early 1920s. Armstrong lived luxuriously in his own apartment with his first private bath. Excited as he was to be in Chicago, he began his career-long pastime of writing letters to friends in New Orleans. Armstrong could blow two hundred high Cs in a row. As his reputation grew, he was challenged to cutting contests by other musicians.

His first studio recordings were with Oliver for Gennett Records on April 5–6, 1923. They endured several hours on the train to remote Richmond, Indiana , and the band was paid little. The quality of the performances was affected by lack of rehearsal, crude recording equipment, bad acoustics, and a cramped studio. These early recordings were true acoustic , the band playing directly into a large funnel connected directly to the needle making the groove in the master recording. (Electrical recording was not invented until 1926 and Gennett installed it later.) Because Armstrong's playing was so loud, when he played next to Oliver, Oliver could not be heard on the recording. Armstrong had to stand fifteen feet away from Oliver, in a far corner of the room.

Lil Hardin , who Armstrong would marry in 1924, urged Armstrong to seek more prominent billing and develop his style apart from the influence of Oliver. At her suggestion, Armstrong began to play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skills; and he began to dress more in more stylish attire to offset his girth. Her influence eventually undermined Armstrong's relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional money that Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Armstrong's mother, May Ann Albert, came to visit him in Chicago during the summer of 1923 after being told that Armstrong was "out of work, out of money, hungry, and sick"; Hardin located and decorated an apartment for her to live in while she stayed.

Armstrong and Oliver parted amicably in 1924. Shortly afterward, Armstrong received an invitation to go to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top African-American band of the time. He switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. His influence on Henderson's tenor sax soloist, Coleman Hawkins , can be judged by listening to the records made by the band during this period.

Armstrong adapted to the tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and experimenting with the trombone. The other members were affected by Armstrong's emotional style. His act included singing and telling tales of New Orleans characters, especially preachers. The Henderson Orchestra played in prominent venues for white patrons only, including the Roseland Ballroom, with arrangements by Don Redman . Duke Ellington's orchestra went to Roseland to catch Armstrong's performances.

During this time, Armstrong recorded with Clarence Williams (a friend from New Orleans), the Williams Blue Five, Sidney Bechet , and blues singers Alberta Hunter , Ma Rainey , and Bessie Smith .

In 1925, Armstrong returned to Chicago largely at the insistence of Lil, who wanted to expand his career and his income. In publicity, much to his chagrin, she billed him as "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player". For a time he was a member of the Lil Hardin Armstrong Band and working for his wife. He formed Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five and recorded the hits "Potato Head Blues" and "Muggles".

The Hot Five included Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), Lil Armstrong on piano, and usually no drummer. Over a twelve-month period starting in November 1925, this quintet produced twenty-four records. Armstrong's band leading style was easygoing, as St. Cyr noted, "One felt so relaxed working with him, and he was very broad-minded ... always did his best to feature each individual." Among the Hot Five and Seven records were "Cornet Chop Suey", "Struttin' With Some Barbecue", "Hotter Than that" and "Potato Head Blues", all featuring highly creative solos by Armstrong. According to Thomas Brothers, recordings, such as "Struttin' with Some Barbeque", were so superb, "planned with density and variety, bluesyness, and showiness," that the arrangements were probably showcased at the Sunset Café. His recordings soon after with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines , their famous 1928 "Weather Bird" duet and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to and solo in "West End Blues", remain some of the most influential improvisations in jazz history. Young trumpet players across the country bought these recordings and memorized his solos.

Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "Whip That Thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr. Johnny Dodds, Aw, Do That Clarinet, Boy!"

Armstrong also played with Erskine Tate's Little Symphony, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as " Madame Butterfly ", which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began scat singing (improvised vocal jazz using nonsensical words) and was among the first to record it, on the Hot Five recording "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926. The recording was so popular that the group became the most famous jazz band in the United States, even though they had seldom performed live. Young musicians across the country, black or white, were turned on by Armstrong's new type of jazz.

After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Café for Al Capone 's associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, with Earl Hines on piano, which was renamed Louis Armstrong and his Stompers, though Hines was the music director and Glaser managed the orchestra. Hines and Armstrong became fast friends and successful collaborators. It was at the Sunset Café that Armstrong accompanied singer Adelaide Hall . It was during Hall's tenure at the venue that she experimented, developed and expanded her scat singing with Armstrong's guidance and encouragement.

In the first half of 1927, Armstrong assembled his Hot Seven group, which added drummer Al "Baby" Dodds and tuba player, Pete Briggs, while preserving most of his original Hot Five lineup. John Thomas replaced Kid Ory on trombone. Later that year he organized a series of new Hot Five sessions which resulted in nine more records. In the last half of 1928, he started recording with a new group: Zutty Singleton (drums), Earl Hines (piano), Jimmy Strong (clarinet), Fred Robinson (trombone), and Mancy Carr (banjo).

Armstrong made a huge impact during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance . His music touched well-known writer Langston Hughes . Hughes admired Armstrong and acknowledged him as one of the most recognized musicians of the era. Hughes wrote many books that celebrated jazz and recognized Armstrong as one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance's newfound love of African-American culture. The sound of jazz, along with musicians such as Armstrong, helped shape Hughes as a writer. Just like the musicians, Hughes wrote his words with jazz.

Armstrong changed jazz during the Harlem Renaissance. As "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player" during this time, Armstrong cemented his legacy and continued a focus on his vocal career. His popularity brought together many black and white audiences.

Armstrong returned to New York in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra for the musical Hot Chocolates , an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist Fats Waller . He made a cameo appearance as a vocalist, regularly stealing the show with his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'". His version of the song became his biggest selling record yet.

Armstrong started to work at Connie's Inn in Harlem, chief rival to the Cotton Club , a venue for elaborately staged floor shows, and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz. Armstrong had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael . His 1930s recordings took full advantage of the RCA ribbon microphone, introduced in 1931, which imparted warmth to vocals and became an intrinsic part of the 'crooning' sound of artists like Bing Crosby . Armstrong's interpretation of Carmichael's "Stardust" became one of the most successful versions of this song ever recorded, showcasing Armstrong's unique vocal sound and style and his innovative approach to singing songs that were already standards.

Armstrong's radical re-working of Sidney Arodin and Carmichael's "Lazy River" (recorded in 1931) encapsulated his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo, then the main melody is introduced by sobbing horns, memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh"..."Sure"..."Way down, way down." In the first verse, he ignores the notated melody and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing. In the second stanza he breaks into an almost fully improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong "scat singing".

As with his trumpet playing, Armstrong's vocal innovations served as a foundation for jazz vocal interpretation. The uniquely gravelly coloration of his voice became an archetype that was endlessly imitated. His scat singing was enriched by his matchless experience as a trumpet soloist. His resonant, velvety lower-register tone and bubbling cadences on sides such as "Lazy River" exerted a huge influence on younger white singers such as Bing Crosby.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s was especially hard on the jazz scene. The Cotton Club closed in 1936 after a long downward spiral and many musicians stopped playing altogether as club dates evaporated. Bix Beiderbecke died and Fletcher Henderson's band broke up. King Oliver made a few records but otherwise struggled. Sidney Bechet became a tailor, later moving to Paris and Kid Ory returned to New Orleans and raised chickens.

Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to seek new opportunities. He played at the New Cotton Club in Los Angeles with Lionel Hampton on drums. The band drew the Hollywood crowd, which could still afford a lavish night life, while radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home. Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame .

He returned to Chicago in late 1931 and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town, Armstrong visited New Orleans, had a hero's welcome, and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team known as Armstrong's Secret Nine and had a cigar named after him. But soon he was on the road again. After a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, he fled to Europe.

After returning to the United States, he undertook several exhausting tours. His agent Johnny Collins's erratic behavior and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him. He hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer, who began to straighten out his legal mess, mob troubles and debts. Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result, he branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. He appeared in movies again, including Crosby's 1936 hit Pennies from Heaven . In 1937, Armstrong substituted for Rudy Vallee on the CBS radio network and became the first African American to host a sponsored, national broadcast.

After spending many years on the road, Armstrong settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943, in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, he continued to develop his playing.

Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940s due to changes in public tastes. Ballrooms closed and there was competition from other types of music, especially pop vocals, becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible under such circumstances to finance a 16-piece touring band.

A widespread revival of interest in the 1940s in the traditional jazz of the 1920s made it possible for Armstrong to consider a return to the small-group musical style of his youth. Armstrong was featured as a guest artist with Lionel Hampton's band at the famed second Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, produced by Leon Hefflin Sr., on October 12, 1946. He also led a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden . During the concert, Armstrong and Teagarden performed a duet on Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair" they then recorded for Okeh Records.

Armstrong's manager, Joe Glaser, changed the Armstrong big band on August 13, 1947 into a six-piece traditional jazz group featuring Armstrong with (initially) Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and Dixieland musicians, most of whom were previously leaders of big bands. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club.

This smaller group was called Louis Armstrong and His All Stars and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard , Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon , Big Sid "Buddy" Catlett, Cozy Cole , Tyree Glenn, Barrett Deems , Mort Herbert, Joe Darensbourg, Eddie Shu, Joe Muranyi and percussionist Danny Barcelona.

On February 28, 1948, Suzy Delair sang the French song "C'est si bon" at the Hotel Negresco during the first Nice Jazz Festival. Louis Armstrong was present and loved the song. On June 26, 1950, he recorded the American version of the song (English lyrics by Jerry Seelen) in New York City with Sy Oliver and his Orchestra. When it was released, the disc was a worldwide success and the song was then performed by the greatest international singers.

He was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine , on February 21, 1949. Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were featured at the ninth Cavalcade of Jazz concert also at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin Sr. held on June 7, 1953, along with Shorty Rogers , Roy Brown , Don Tosti and His Mexican Jazzmen, Earl Bostic , and Nat "King" Cole .

Over 30 years, Armstrong played more than 300 performances a year, making many recordings and appearing in over thirty films.

By the 1950s, Armstrong was a widely beloved American icon and cultural ambassador who commanded an international fanbase. However, a growing generation gap became apparent between him and the young jazz musicians who emerged in the postwar era such as Charlie Parker , Miles Davis , and Sonny Rollins . The postwar generation regarded their music as abstract art and considered Armstrong's vaudevillian style, half-musician and half-stage entertainer, outmoded and Uncle Tomism. "... he seemed a link to minstrelsy that we were ashamed of." He called bebop "Chinese music". While touring Australia in 1954, he was asked if he could play bebop. "'Bebop?' he husked. 'I just play music. Guys who invent terms like that are walking the streets with their instruments under their arms'".

In the 1960s, he toured Ghana and Nigeria .

After finishing his contract with Decca Records, he went freelance and recorded for other labels. He continued an intense international touring schedule, but in 1959 he suffered a heart attack in Italy and had to rest.

In 1964, after over two years without setting foot in a studio, he recorded his biggest-selling record, "Hello, Dolly!", a song by Jerry Herman , originally sung by Carol Channing . Armstrong's version remained on the Hot 100 for 22 weeks, longer than any other record produced that year, and went to No. 1 making him, at 62 years, 9 months and 5 days, the oldest person to accomplish that feat. His hit dislodged The Beatles from the No. 1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs.

Armstrong toured well into his 60s, even visiting part of the Communist Bloc in 1965. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under the sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch" and inspiring Dave Brubeck to compose his jazz musical The Real Ambassadors . By 1968, he was approaching 70 and his health was failing. His heart and kidney ailments forced him to stop touring. He did not perform publicly in 1969 and spent most of the year recuperating at home. Meanwhile, his longtime manager Joe Glaser died. By the summer of 1970, his doctors pronounced him fit enough to resume live performances. He embarked on another world tour, but a heart attack forced him to take a break for two months.

Armstrong made his last recorded trumpet performances on his 1968 album Disney Songs the Satchmo Way .

Personal life

In a memoir written for Robert Goffin between 1943 and 1944, Armstrong stated, "All white folks call me Louie," suggesting that he himself did not, or that no whites addressed him by one of his nicknames such as Pops. That said, Armstrong was registered as "Lewie" for the 1920 U.S. Census . On various live records he is called "Louie" on stage, such as on the 1952 "Can Anyone Explain?" from the live album In Scandinavia vol.1 . The same applies to his 1952 studio recording of the song "Chloe", where the choir in the background sings "Louie ... Louie", with Armstrong responding "What was that? Somebody called my name?". "Lewie" is the French pronunciation of "Louis" and is commonly used in Louisiana.

Armstrong was performing at the Brick House in Gretna, Louisiana , when he met Daisy Parker. On March 19, 1919, Armstrong and Parker married at City Hall. They adopted a three-year-old boy, Clarence, whose mother, Armstrong's cousin Flora, had died soon after giving birth. Clarence Armstrong was mentally disabled as a result of a head injury at an early age, and Armstrong spent the rest of his life taking care of him. His marriage to Parker ended when they separated in 1923.

On February 4, 1924, he married Lil Hardin Armstrong , King Oliver's pianist. She had divorced her first husband a few years earlier. His second wife helped him develop his career, but they separated in 1931 and divorced in 1938. Armstrong then married Alpha Smith. His relationship with Alpha began while he was playing at the Vendome during the 1920s and continued long after. His marriage to her lasted four years; they divorced in 1942. Louis then married Lucille Wilson, a singer at the Cotton Club in New York, in October 1942. They remained married until his death in 1971.

Armstrong's marriages produced no offspring. However, in December 2012, 57-year-old Sharon Preston-Folta claimed to be his daughter from a relationship he had with Lucille "Sweets" Preston. In a 1955 letter to his manager, Joe Glaser, Armstrong affirmed that Lucille's child was his daughter, and ordered Glaser to pay a monthly allowance of $400, $5,462 in 2022 dollars , to mother and child.

Armstrong was colorful and charismatic. His autobiography vexed some biographers and historians because he had a habit of telling tales, particularly about his early childhood when he was less scrutinized, and his embellishments lack consistency.

In addition to being an entertainer, Armstrong was a leading personality. He was beloved by an American public that usually offered little access beyond their public celebrity to even the greatest African American performers, and he was able to live a private life of access and privilege afforded to few other African Americans during that era.

He generally remained politically neutral, which at times alienated him from members of the black community who expected him to use his prominence within white America to become more outspoken during the civil rights movement . However, he did criticize President Eisenhower for not acting forcefully enough on civil rights.

The trumpet is notoriously hard on the lips , and Armstrong suffered from lip damage over most of his life. This was due to his aggressive style of playing and preference for narrow mouthpieces that would stay in place more easily, but which tended to dig into the soft flesh of his inner lip. During his 1930s European tour, he suffered an ulceration so severe that he had to stop playing entirely for a year. Eventually he took to using salves and creams on his lips and also cutting off scar tissue with a razor blade. By the 1950s, he was an official spokesman for Ansatz-Creme Lip Salve.

During a backstage meeting with trombonist Marshall Brown in 1959, Armstrong received the suggestion to see a doctor and receive proper treatment for his lips instead of relying on home remedies, but he did not get around to that until his final years, by which point his health was failing and the doctors considered surgery too risky.

Also in 1959, Armstrong was hospitalized for pneumonia while on tour in Italy . Doctors were concerned about his lungs and heart, but by June 26 he rallied.

The nicknames "Satchmo" and "Satch" are short for "Satchelmouth". The nickname origin is uncertain. The most common tale that biographers tell is the story of Armstrong as a young boy in New Orleans dancing for pennies. He scooped the coins off the street and stuck them into his mouth to prevent bigger children from stealing them. Someone dubbed him "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel. Another tale is that because of his large mouth, he was nicknamed "satchel mouth" which was shortened to "Satchmo".

Early on he was also known as "Dipper", short for "Dippermouth", a reference to the piece Dippermouth Blues and something of a riff on his unusual embouchure.

The nickname "Pops" came from Armstrong's own tendency to forget people's names and simply call them "Pops" instead. The nickname was turned on Armstrong himself. It was used as the title of a 2010 biography of Armstrong by Terry Teachout.

After a competition at the Savoy, he was crowned and nicknamed "King Menelik", after the Emperor of Ethiopia, for slaying "ofay jazz demons".

Armstrong celebrated his heritage as an African American man from a poor New Orleans neighborhood and tried to avoid what he called "putting on airs". Many younger black musicians criticized Armstrong for playing in front of segregated audiences and for not taking a stronger stand in the American civil rights movement . When he did speak out, it made national news, including his criticism of President Dwight D. Eisenhower , calling him "two-faced" and "gutless" because of his inaction during the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. As a protest, Armstrong cancelled a planned tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the State Department saying, "The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell"; he could not represent his government abroad when it was in conflict with its own people. The FBI kept a file on Armstrong for his outspokenness about integration.

When asked about his religion, Armstrong answered that he was raised a Baptist , always wore a Star of David , and was friends with the pope. He wore the Star of David in honor of the Karnoffsky family who took him in as a child and lent him money to buy his first cornet. He was baptized a Catholic in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Orleans, and he met Pope Pius XII and Pope Paul VI .

Armstrong was concerned with his health. He used laxatives to control his weight, a practice he advocated both to acquaintances and in the diet plans he published under the title Lose Weight the Satchmo Way . His laxative use began as a child when his mother would collect dandelions and peppergrass around the railroad tracks to give to her children for their health.

The concern with his health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Cheesecake", "Cornet Chop Suey", and "Struttin' with Some Barbecue". He kept a strong connection throughout his life to the cooking of New Orleans , always signing his letters, " Red beans and ricely yours ...".

A fan of Major League Baseball, he founded a team in New Orleans that was known as Raggedy Nine and transformed the team into his Armstrong's "Secret Nine Baseball".

Armstrong's gregariousness extended to writing. On the road, he wrote constantly, sharing favorite themes of his life with correspondents around the world. He avidly typed or wrote on whatever stationery was at hand, recording instant takes on music, food and childhood memories.

Louis Armstrong was not, as claimed, a Freemason . Although he has been cited as a member of Montgomery Lodge No. 18 (Prince Hall) in New York, no such lodge ever existed. Armstrong did state in his autobiography that he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, which although real, is not a Masonic group. During the krewe's 1949 Mardi Gras parade, Armstrong presided as King of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, for which he was featured on the cover of Time magazine .

In his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. Along with his "clarinet-like figurations and high notes in his cornet solos", he was also known for his "intense rhythmic 'swing', a complex conception involving ... accented upbeats, upbeat to downbeat slurring, and complementary relations among rhythmic patterns." The most lauded recordings on which Armstrong plays trumpet include the Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions, as well as those of the Red Onion Jazz Babies. Armstrong's improvisations, while unconventionally sophisticated for that era, were also subtle and highly melodic. The solo that Armstrong plays during the song "Potato Head Blues" has long been considered his best solo of that series.

Prior to Armstrong, most collective ensemble playing in jazz, along with its occasional solos, simply varied the melodies of the songs. Armstrong was virtually the first to create significant variations based on the chord harmonies of the songs instead of merely on the melodies. This opened a rich field for creation and improvisation, and significantly changed the music into a soloist's art form.

Often, Armstrong re-composed pop-tunes he played, simply with variations that made them more compelling to jazz listeners of the era. At the same time, however, his oeuvre includes many original melodies, creative leaps, and relaxed or driving rhythms. Armstrong's playing technique, honed by constant practice, extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. In his records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what had been essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression.

Armstrong was one of the first artists to use recordings of his performances to improve himself. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes, which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. He enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically. In the den of his home, he had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio.

As his music progressed and popularity grew, his singing also became very important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and helped popularize it with the first recording on which he scatted, "Heebie Jeebies". At a recording session for Okeh Records, when the sheet music supposedly fell on the floor and the music began before he could pick up the pages, Armstrong simply started singing nonsense syllables while Okeh President E.A. Fearn, who was at the session, kept telling him to continue. Armstrong did, thinking the track would be discarded, but that was the version that was pressed to disc, sold, and became an unexpected hit. Although the story was thought to be apocryphal, Armstrong himself confirmed it in at least one interview as well as in his memoirs. On a later recording, Armstrong also sang out "I done forgot the words" in the middle of recording "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas".

Such records were hits and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, however, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, using his voice as creatively as his trumpet. Armstrong once told Cab Calloway that his scat style was derived "from the Jews rockin ", an Orthodox Jewish style of chanting during prayer.

Armstrong was a gifted composer who wrote more than fifty songs, some of which have become jazz standards (e.g., "Gully Low Blues", "Potato Head Blues" and "Swing That Music").

During his long career he played and sang with some of the most important instrumentalists and vocalists of the time, including Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington , Fletcher Henderson , Earl Hines , Jimmie Rodgers , Bessie Smith , and Ella Fitzgerald . His influence upon Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music. Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" (1931).

Armstrong recorded two albums with Ella Fitzgerald, Ella and Louis and Ella and Louis Again , for Verve Records . The sessions featured the backing musicianship of the Oscar Peterson Trio with drummer Buddy Rich on the first album and Louie Bellson on the second. Norman Granz then had the vision for Ella and Louis to record Porgy and Bess .

His two recordings for Columbia Records , Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1954) and Satch Plays Fats (all Fats Waller tunes) (1955), were both being considered masterpieces, as well as moderately well selling. In 1961, the All Stars participated in two albums, The Great Summit and The Great Reunion (now together as a single disc) with Duke Ellington . The albums feature many of Ellington's most famous compositions (as well as two exclusive cuts) with Duke sitting in on piano. His participation in Dave Brubeck 's high-concept jazz musical The Real Ambassadors (1963) was critically acclaimed and features "Summer Song", one of Armstrong's most popular vocal efforts.

In the week beginning May 9, 1964, his recording of the song "Hello, Dolly!" went to number one. An album of the same title was quickly created around the song, and also shot to number one, knocking The Beatles off the top of the chart. The album sold very well for the rest of the year, quickly going "Gold" (500,000). His performance of "Hello, Dolly!" won for best male pop vocal performance at the 1964 Grammy Awards .

Armstrong had nineteen "Top Ten" records including "Stardust", "What a Wonderful World", " When The Saints Go Marching In ", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "You Rascal You", and "Stompin' at the Savoy". "We Have All the Time in the World" was featured on the soundtrack of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service , and enjoyed renewed popularity in the UK in 1994 when it was featured on a Guinness advertisement. It reached number 3 in the charts on being re-released.

In 1964, Armstrong knocked The Beatles off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly!", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a number one song. His 1964 song "Bout Time" was later featured in the film Bewitched .

In February 1968, he appeared with Lara Saint Paul on the Italian RAI television channel where he performed "Grassa e Bella", a track he sang in Italian for the Italian market and C.D.I. label.

In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the UK with "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month. Armstrong appeared on the October 28, 1970, Johnny Cash Show , where he sang Nat King Cole 's hit "Ramblin' Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel No. 9".

Armstrong enjoyed many types of music, from blues to the arrangements of Guy Lombardo , to Latin American folksongs, to classical symphonies and opera . He incorporated influences from all these sources into his performances, sometimes to the bewilderment of fans who wanted him to stay in convenient narrow categories. Armstrong was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence . Some of his solos from the 1950s, such as the hard rocking version of "St. Louis Blues" from the WC Handy album, show that the influence went in both directions.

Armstrong appeared in more than a dozen Hollywood films, usually playing a bandleader or musician. His most familiar role was as the bandleader cum narrator in the 1956 musical High Society , starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly , Frank Sinatra , and Celeste Holm . He appears throughout the film, sings the title song, and performs the duet "Now You Has Jazz" with Crosby. In 1947, he played himself in the movie New Orleans opposite Billie Holiday, which chronicled the demise of the Storyville district and the ensuing exodus of musicians from New Orleans to Chicago. In the 1959 film The Five Pennies , Armstrong played himself, sang, and played several classic numbers. He performed a duet of "When the Saints Go Marching In" with Danny Kaye during which Kaye impersonated Armstrong. He had a part in the film alongside James Stewart in The Glenn Miller Story .

In 1937, Armstrong was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show. In 1969, he had a cameo role in Gene Kelly 's film version of Hello, Dolly! as the bandleader Louis where he sang the title song with actress Barbra Streisand . His solo recording of "Hello, Dolly!" is one of his most recognizable performances. He was heard on such radio programs as The Story of Swing (1937) and This Is Jazz (1947), and he also made television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson .

In 1949, his life was dramatized in the Chicago WMAQ radio series Destination Freedom .

Argentine writer Julio Cortázar , a self-described Armstrong admirer, asserted that a 1952 Louis Armstrong concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris played a significant role in inspiring him to create the fictional creatures called Cronopios that are the subject of a number of Cortázar's short stories. Cortázar once called Armstrong himself "Grandísimo Cronopio" (The Great Cronopio).

There is a pivotal scene in Stardust Memories (1980) in which Woody Allen is overwhelmed by a recording of Armstrong's "Stardust" and experiences a nostalgic epiphany.

Against his doctor's advice, Armstrong played a two-week engagement in March 1971 at the Waldorf-Astoria 's Empire Room. At the end of it, he was hospitalized for a heart attack . He was released from the hospital in May, and quickly resumed practicing his trumpet playing. Still hoping to get back on the road, Armstrong died of a heart attack in his sleep on July 6, 1971, two days after celebrating his alleged 71st birthday, and a month before his actual 70th birthday. He was residing in Corona, Queens , New York City, at the time of his death. He was interred in Flushing Cemetery, Flushing , in Queens , New York City. His honorary pallbearers included Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald , Dizzy Gillespie , Pearl Bailey , Count Basie , Harry James , Frank Sinatra , Ed Sullivan , Earl Wilson, Alan King , Johnny Carson and David Frost . Peggy Lee sang " The Lord's Prayer " at the services while Al Hibbler sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and Fred Robbins, a long-time friend, gave the eulogy.

Awards and honors

Armstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972 by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

Recordings of Armstrong were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance".

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Armstrong's West End Blues on the list of 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.

In 1995, the U.S. Post Office issued a Louis Armstrong 32-cent commemorative postage stamp.

In 1999 Armstrong was nominated for inclusion in the American Film Institute 's 100 Years ... 100 Stars .

The influence of Armstrong on the development of jazz is virtually immeasurable. His irrepressible personality both as a performer and as a public figure was so strong that to some it sometimes overshadowed his contributions as a musician and singer.

As a virtuoso trumpet player, Armstrong had a unique tone and an extraordinary talent for melodic improvisation . Through his playing, the trumpet emerged as a solo instrument in jazz and is used widely today. Additionally, jazz itself was transformed from a collectively improvised folk music to a soloist's serious art form largely through his influence. He was a masterful accompanist and ensemble player in addition to his extraordinary skills as a soloist. With his innovations, he raised the bar musically for all who came after him.

Though Armstrong is widely recognized as a pioneer of scat singing, Ethel Waters precedes his scatting on record in the 1930s according to Gary Giddins and others. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two singers who were greatly indebted to him. Holiday said that she always wanted Bessie Smith 's "big" sound and Armstrong's feeling in her singing. Even special musicians like Duke Ellington have praised Armstrong through strong testimonials. Duke Ellington, DownBeat magazine in 1971, said, "If anybody was a master, it was Louis Armstrong. He was and will continue to be the embodiment of jazz". In 1950, Bing Crosby , the most successful vocalist of the first half of the 20th century, said, "He is the beginning and the end of music in America".

In 1991, an asteroid was named 9179 Satchmo in his honor. In the summer of 2001, in commemoration of the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans's main airport was renamed Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The entrance to the airport's former terminal building houses a statue depicting Armstrong playing his cornet. In 2002, the Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925–1928) were preserved in the United States National Recording Registry, a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress . The US Open tennis tournament's former main stadium was named Louis Armstrong Stadium in honor of Armstrong who had lived a few blocks from the site.

Congo Square was a common gathering place for African-Americans in New Orleans for dancing and performing music. The park where Congo Square is located was later renamed Louis Armstrong Park. Dedicated in April 1980, the park includes a 12-foot (3.7 m) statue of Armstrong, trumpet in hand.

The house where Armstrong lived for almost 28 years was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and is now a museum. The Louis Armstrong House Museum , at 34–56 107th Street between 34th and 37th avenues in Corona, Queens , presents concerts and educational programs, operates as a historic house museum and makes materials in its archives of writings, books, recordings and memorabilia available to the public for research. The museum is operated by the Queens College, City University of New York, following the dictates of Lucille Armstrong's will. The museum opened to the public on October 15, 2003. A new visitors center is planned.

According to literary critic Harold Bloom, "The two great American contributions to the world's art, in the end, are Walt Whitman and, after him, Armstrong and jazz ... If I had to choose between the two, ultimately, I wouldn't. I would say that the genius of this nation at its best is indeed Walt Whitman and Louis Armstrong".

• Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong collaborations
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Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was an internationally famous jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and singer known for songs like “What a Wonderful World,” “Hello, Dolly!,” ”Star Dust,” and “La Vie En Rose.”

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Who Was Louis Armstrong?

Jazz musician Louis Armstrong, nicknamed “Satchmo” and “Ambassador Satch,” was an internationally famous jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and singer. An all-star virtuoso, the New Orleans native came to prominence in the 1920s and influenced countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals. He is credited with helping to usher in the era of jazz big bands. Armstrong recorded several songs throughout his career, including “Star Dust,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “What a Wonderful World.” Ever the entertainer, Armstrong became the first Black American to star in a Hollywood movie with 1936’s Pennies from Heaven . The legendary musician died in 1971 at age 69 after years of contending with heart and kidney problems.

Quick Facts

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FULL NAME: Louis Daniel Armstrong BORN: August 4, 1901 DIED: July 6, 1971 BIRTHPLACE: New Orleans, Louisiana SPOUSES: Daisy Parker (c. 1918-1923), Lillian Hardin (1924-1938), Alpha Smith (1938-1942), and Lucille Wilson (1942-1971) CHILDREN: Clarence and Sharon ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in a New Orleans neighborhood so poor that it was nicknamed “The Battlefield.”

He had a difficult childhood. His father was a factory worker and abandoned the family soon after Louis’ birth. His mother, who often turned to prostitution, frequently left him with his maternal grandmother.

Armstrong was obligated to leave school in the fifth grade to begin working. A local Jewish family, the Karnofskys, gave young Armstrong a job collecting junk and delivering coal. They also encouraged him to sing and often invited him into their home for meals.

On New Year’s Eve in 1912, when Armstrong was 11 years old, he fired his stepfather’s gun in the air during a celebration and was arrested on the spot. He was then sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. It proved to be a pivotal time in his life. There, Armstrong received musical instruction on the cornet and fell in love with music. In 1914, the home released him, and he immediately began dreaming of a life making music.

While he still had to work odd jobs selling newspapers and hauling coal to the city’s famed red-light district, Armstrong began earning a reputation as a fine blues player. One of the greatest cornet players in town, Joe “King” Oliver, began acting as a mentor to young Armstrong, showing him pointers on the horn and occasionally using him as a sub.

In 1918, Armstrong replaced Oliver in Kid Ory’s band, then the most popular band in New Orleans. He was soon able to stop working manual labor jobs and began concentrating full-time on his cornet, playing parties, dances, funeral marches, and at local honky-tonks, a name for small bars that typically host musical acts.

Beginning in 1919, Armstrong spent his summers playing on riverboats with a band led by Fate Marable. It was on the riverboat that Armstrong honed his music reading skills and eventually had his first encounters with other jazz legends, including Bix Beiderbecke and Jack Teagarden.

Influencing the Creation of the First Jazz Big Band

Although Armstrong was content to remain in New Orleans, in the summer of 1922, he received a call from Oliver to come to Chicago and join his Creole Jazz Band on second cornet. Armstrong accepted, and he was soon taking Chicago by storm with both his remarkably fiery playing and the dazzling two-cornet breaks that he shared with Oliver. Armstrong made his first recordings with Oliver on April 5, 1923; that day, he earned his first recorded solo on “Chimes Blues.”

Lillian Hardin, the band’s female pianist whom Armstrong married in 1924, made it clear she felt Oliver was holding Armstrong back. She pushed her husband to cut ties with his mentor and join Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra, the top African American dance band in New York City at the time.

Armstrong followed her advice, joining Henderson in the fall of 1924. He immediately made his presence felt with a series of solos that introduced the concept of swing music to the band. Armstrong had a great influence on Henderson and his arranger, Don Redman, both of whom began integrating Armstrong’s swinging vocabulary into their arrangements. The changes transformed Henderson’s band into what is generally regarded as the first jazz big band.

However, Armstrong’s southern background didn’t mesh well with the more urban, Northern mentality of Henderson’s other musicians, who sometimes gave Armstrong a hard time over his wardrobe and the way he talked. Henderson also forbade Armstrong from singing, fearing that his rough way of vocalizing would be too coarse for the sophisticated audiences at the Roseland Ballroom. Unhappy, Armstrong left Henderson in 1925 to return to Chicago, where he began playing with his wife’s band at the Dreamland Café.

While in New York, Armstrong cut dozens of records as a sideman, creating inspirational jazz with other greats, such as Sidney Bechet, and backing numerous blues singers, including Bessie Smith .

Back in Chicago, OKeh Records decided to let Armstrong make his first records with a band under his own name: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five. From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made more than 60 records with the Hot Five and, later, the Hot Seven.

Today, these are generally regarded as the most important and influential recordings in jazz history. On the records, Armstrong’s virtuoso brilliance helped transform jazz from an ensemble music to a soloist’s art. His stop-time solos on numbers like “Cornet Chop Suey” and “Potato Head Blues” changed jazz history by featuring daring rhythmic choices, swinging phrasing, and incredible high notes.

Armstrong also began singing on these recordings, popularizing wordless “scat singing” with his hugely popular vocal on 1926’s “Heebie Jeebies.” In 2002, all the tapes were preserved in the National Recording Registry.

The Hot Five and Hot Seven were strictly recording groups, however. Armstrong performed nightly during this period with Erskine Tate’s orchestra at the Vendome Theater, often playing music for silent movies. While performing with Tate in 1926, Armstrong finally switched from the cornet to the trumpet.

Armstrong’s popularity continued to grow in Chicago throughout the 1920s, as he began playing other venues, including the Sunset Café and the Savoy Ballroom. A young pianist from Pittsburgh named Earl Hines assimilated Armstrong’s ideas into his piano playing.

Together, Armstrong and Hines formed a potent team and made some of the greatest recordings in jazz history in 1928, including their virtuoso duet, “Weather Bird,” and “West End Blues.” The latter performance is one of Armstrong’s best known works, opening with a stunning cadenza that features equal helpings of opera and the blues. With its release, “West End Blues” proved to the world that the genre of fun, danceable jazz music was also capable of producing high art.

In the summer of 1929, Armstrong headed to New York, where he had a role in a Broadway production of Connie’s Hot Chocolates , featuring the music of Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. Armstrong was featured nightly on Ain’t Misbehavin’ , breaking up the crowds of (mostly white) theatergoers nightly.

That same year, he recorded with small New Orleans–influenced groups, including the Hot Seven, and began recording larger ensembles. Instead of doing strictly jazz numbers, OKeh Records began allowing Armstrong to record popular songs of the day, including “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “Star Dust,” and “Body and Soul.”

Armstrong’s daring vocal transformations of these songs completely changed the concept of popular singing in American popular music, and had lasting effects on many singers who came after him, including Bing Crosby , Billie Holiday , Frank Sinatra , and Ella Fitzgerald .

Armstrong’s 1950 recording of “La Vie En Rose” remains one of his most recognizable vocals. It was notably featured on the soundtrack of the 2008 animated film WALL-E . Other popular songs of his included “Swing That Music,” “Jubilee,” “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue,” and the Grammy-winning “Hello, Dolly!,” his only No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (The chart began in August 1958, well into Armstrong’s career.)

Like his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings, Armstrong’s 1938 song “When the Saints Go Marching In” and his jazz transformation of Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife” from 1956 were enshrined in the National Recording Registry.

Armstrong and Fitzgerald partnered on a collection of duets and made three albums in the second half of the 1950s. The songs include “Makin’ Whoopee,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” and “Cheek to Cheek,” originally written for the 1935 film Top Hat starring Fred Astaire . All their duets were released on a four-disc set in 2018 to celebrate Fitzgerald’s 100 th birthday.

One of Armstrong’s most beloved song is “What a Wonderful World,” which the musician recorded in 1967. Different from most of his recordings of the era, the ballad features no trumpet and places Armstrong’s gravelly voice in the middle of a bed of strings and angelic voices. Armstrong sang his heart out on the number, thinking of his home in New York City’s Queens as he did so.

“What a Wonderful World” received little promotion in the United States. The tune did, however, become a No. 1 hit around the world, including in England and South Africa. Eventually, it became an American classic after it was used in the 1986 Robin Williams film Good Morning, Vietnam .

By 1932, Armstrong was known as “Satchmo,” a shortened version of satchel mouth, on account of his large mouth. He had also had begun appearing in movies and made his first tour of England. While he was beloved by musicians, he was too wild for most critics, who gave him some of the most racist and harsh reviews of his career.

Satchmo didn’t let the criticism stop him, however, and he returned an even bigger star when he began a longer tour throughout Europe in 1933. In a strange turn of events, it was during this tour that Armstrong’s career fell apart.

Years of blowing high notes had taken a toll on Armstrong’s lips, and following a fight with his manager Johnny Collins—who already managed to get Armstrong into trouble with the Mafia —he was left stranded overseas by Collins. Armstrong decided to take some time off soon after the incident and spent much of 1934 relaxing in Europe and resting his lip.

Swing That Music

When Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1935, he had no band, no engagements, and no recording contract. His lips were still sore, and there were still remnants of his mob troubles. His wife Lillian was also suing Armstrong following the couple’s split.

He turned to Joe Glaser for help. Glaser had mob ties of his own, having been close with Al Capone . But he had loved Armstrong from the time he met him at the Sunset Café, which Glaser had owned and managed. Armstrong put his career in Glaser’s hands and asked him to make his troubles disappear. Glaser did just that. Within a few months, Armstrong had a new big band and was recording for Decca Records.

With his career back on track, Armstrong set a number of African American firsts. In 1936, he became the first Black jazz musician to write an autobiography: Swing That Music . That same year, he became the first African American to get featured billing in a major Hollywood movie with his turn in Pennies from Heaven , starring Bing Crosby . Armstrong continued to appear in major movies with the likes of Mae West , Martha Raye, and Dick Powell.

In 1937, Armstrong became the first Black entertainer to host a nationally sponsored radio show when he took over Rudy Vallee’s Fleischmann’s Yeast Show for 12 weeks. He was a frequent presence on radio and often broke box-office records at the height of what is now known as the Swing Era.

By the mid-’40s, the Swing Era was winding down, and the era of big bands was almost over. Seeing the writing on the wall, Armstrong scaled down to a smaller six-piece combo, the All Stars, who he performed live with until the end of his career. Personnel frequently changed. Members of the group, at one time or another, included Jack Teagarden, Earl Hines, Sid Catlett, Barney Bigard, Trummy Young, Edmond Hall, Billy Kyle, and Tyree Glenn, among other jazz legends.

Armstrong continued recording for Decca in the late 1940s and early ’50s, creating a string of popular hits, including “Blueberry Hill,” “That Lucky Old Sun,” “A Kiss to Build a Dream On,” and “I Get Ideas.”

Armstrong signed with Columbia Records in the mid-’50s and soon cut some of the finest albums of his career for producer George Avakian, including Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy and Satch Plays Fats .

Armstrong wed four times, the first during his teen years. In 1918, he married Daisy Parker, a sex worker. That commenced a stormy union marked by many arguments and acts of violence that ultimately ended in 1923.

During his first marriage, Armstrong adopted a 3-year-old boy named Clarence. The boy’s mother was Armstrong’s cousin who had died in childbirth. Clarence suffered a head injury at a young age and was mentally disabled for the rest of his life.

Armstrong’s second wife was a fellow musician. Shortly after joining the Creole Jazz Band in Chicago, he started dating the female pianist in the group, Lillian Hardin. They married in 1924 but separated seven years later.

During his marriage to Hardin, Armstrong began a relationship with a young dancer named Alpha Smith. In 1938, Armstrong finally divorced Hardin and married Smith, whom he had been dating for more than a decade. Their marriage was not a happy one, however, and they divorced in 1942.

That same year, Armstrong married for the fourth and final time. He wed Lucille Wilson, a Cotton Club dancer. They remained married until his death in 1971.

Armstrong’s four marriages never produced any biological children. Because he and his wife Lucille had actively tried for years to no avail, many believe him to be incapable of having children.

However, controversy regarding Armstrong’s fatherhood struck in 1954, when a girlfriend that the musician had dated on the side named Lucille “Sweets” Preston claimed she was pregnant with his child. Preston gave birth to a daughter, Sharon Preston, in 1955.

Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words: Selected Writings

Shortly thereafter, Armstrong bragged about the child to his manager Joe Glaser in a letter that was later published in the book Louis Armstrong In His Own Words (1999). Thereafter until his death in 1971, however, Armstrong never publicly addressed whether he was Sharon’s father.

Armstrong’s alleged daughter, who now goes by the name Sharon Preston-Folta, has publicized various letters between her and her father. The letters, dated as far back as 1968, prove that Armstrong had always believed Sharon to be his daughter and that he even paid for her education and home, among several other things, throughout his life. Perhaps most importantly, the letters also detail Armstrong’s fatherly love for Sharon.

In December 2012, Preston-Folta published the memoir Little Satchmo: Living in the Shadow of My Father , Louis Daniel Armstrong , about her relationship and connection with the famous musician.

A DNA test could officially prove whether a blood relationship does exist between Armstrong and Preston-Folta, but if one has been conducted, it hasn’t been publicly shared. However, believers and skeptics can at least agree on one thing: Sharon’s uncanny resemblance to the jazz legend.

When Armstrong’s popularity overseas skyrocketed, it led some to alter his longtime nickname “Satchmo” to “Ambassador Satch.” He performed all over the world in the 1950s and ’60s, including throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia. Legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow followed Armstrong with a camera crew on some of his worldwide excursions, turning the resulting footage into a theatrical documentary, Satchmo the Great , released in 1957.

Although his popularity was hitting new highs in the 1950s, and despite breaking down so many barriers for his race, making him a hero in the Black community, Armstrong began to lose standing with two segments of his audience: modern jazz fans and young African Americans.

Bebop, a new form of jazz, had blossomed in the 1940s. Featuring young geniuses such as Dizzy Gillespie , Charlie Parker , and Miles Davis , the younger generation of musicians saw themselves as artists, not as entertainers. They saw Armstrong’s stage persona and music as old-fashioned and criticized him in the press. Armstrong fought back, but for many young jazz fans, he was regarded as an out-of-date performer with his best days behind him.

The Civil Rights Movement was growing stronger with each passing year, with more protests, marches, and speeches from Black Americans wanting equal rights. To many young jazz listeners at the time, Armstrong’s ever-smiling demeanor seemed like it was from a bygone era. The trumpeter’s refusal to comment on politics for many years only furthered perceptions that he was out of touch.

Armstrong’s previous silence on racial issues changed in 1957, when the musician saw the Little Rock Central High School integration crisis on television. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus sent in the National Guard to prevent the Little Rock Nine , a group of nine African American students, from entering the public school.

When Armstrong saw this, as well as white protesters hurling invective at the students, he blew his top to the press, telling a reporter that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had “no guts” for letting Faubus run the country. “The way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell,” Armstrong said.

His words made front-page news around the world. Although he had finally spoken out after years of remaining publicly silent, he received criticism at the time from both Black and white public figures. Not a single jazz musician who had previously criticized him took his side, but today, this is seen as one of the bravest, most definitive moments of Armstrong’s life.

Armstrong continued a grueling touring schedule into the late ’50s, and it caught up with him in 1959 when he had a heart attack while traveling in Spoleto, Italy. The musician didn’t let the incident stop him, however. After taking a few weeks off to recover, he was back on the road, performing 300 nights a year into the 1960s.

Armstrong was still a popular attraction around the world in 1963 but hadn’t made a record in two years. That December, he was called into the studio to record the title number for a Broadway show that hadn’t opened yet, Hello, Dolly!

The record “Hello, Dolly!” was released in 1964 and quickly climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, hitting the No. 1 slot in May 1964. The chart-topper even dethroned The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania. It also earned Armstrong his only Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance.

This newfound popularity introduced Armstrong to a new, younger audience, and he continued making both successful records and concert appearances for the rest of the decade, even cracking the Iron Curtain with a tour of Communist countries such as East Berlin and Czechoslovakia in 1965.

By 1968, Armstrong’s grueling lifestyle had finally caught up with him. Heart and kidney problems forced him to stop performing in 1969. That same year, his longtime manager, Joe Glaser, died. Armstrong spent much of that year at home but managed to continue practicing the trumpet daily.

Armstrong restarted his public performances by the summer of 1970. After a successful engagement in Las Vegas, Armstrong began taking engagements around the world once more, including in London; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, where he performed for two weeks at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Two days after the Waldorf gig, Armstrong had a heart attack that sidelined him for two months. He returned home in May 1971, though he soon resumed playing again. He promised to perform in public once more, but it was a promise he couldn’t keep.

Armstrong he died in his sleep on July 6, 1971, at his home in the Queens borough of New York City. He was a month shy of his 70 th birthday.

Since his death, Armstrong’s stature has only continued to grow. His Queens home at 34-56 107th Street in Corona, New York was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977. He and his wife Lucille moved into the home in 1943 after she convinced him to purchase a house. Today, the building is home to the Louis Armstrong House Museum , which annually receives thousands of visitors from all over the world.

In the 1980s and ’90s, younger Black jazz musicians like Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis, and Nicholas Payton began speaking about Armstrong’s importance, both as a musician and a human being.

A series of biographies on Armstrong made his role as a civil rights pioneer abundantly clear and, subsequently, argued for an embrace of his entire career’s output, not just the revolutionary recordings from the 1920s.

Louis Armstrong Stadium, part of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center that annually hosts the U.S. Open in New York City, is named in his honor.

• The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician.
• If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.
• All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.
• The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people going by.
• The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
• Seems to me it ain’t the world that’s so bad but what we’re doing to it, and all I’m saying is: see what a wonderful world it would be if only we’d give it a chance. Love, baby—love. That’s the secret.
• We all do “do re mi,” but you have got to find the other notes yourself.
• Making money ain’t nothing exciting to me. You might be able to buy a little better booze than the wino on the corner. But you get sick just like the next cat, and when you die, you’re just as graveyard dead as he is.
• What we play is life.

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Louis Armstrong Facts & Worksheets

Louis daniel armstrong, nicknamed satchmo, satch, and pops, was an american trumpeter, composer, vocalist and occasional actor., search for worksheets, download the louis armstrong facts & worksheets.

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Table of Contents

Louis Daniel Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, and Pops, was an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz.

See the fact file below for more information on the Louis Armstrong or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Louis Armstrong worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

• According to his baptismal records, Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901, although for many years he claimed to have been born on July 4, 1900.
• His mother, Mary Albert, was only sixteen when she gave birth to Louis; his father, William Armstrong, abandoned the family shortly after his birth – this resulted in Louis being raised by his grandmother until he was about five years old, when he returned to his mother’s care.
• Although he attended a mixed-race school, Louis spent most of his time in a rough neighborhood, living in poverty.
• As a child, he did odd jobs for different families, and was introduced to jazz music from bands that played in brothels and dance halls.
• He dropped out of school at the age of 11 and began singing in a quartet of boys to make some money.
• After getting into some trouble, Louis was sent to the Colored Waifs Home, which is where he learned to play cornet, and thus his passion for music blossomed – this is also where he met a man named Peter Davis, who taught him how to fine-tune his musical skills.
• After 18 months at the Waif’s Home, he left and was determined to become a successful musician.
• In 1914, Louis began playing in brass band parades all over New Orleans, continually learning from his role model, King Oliver, who was also a jazz cornet player.

EARLY CAREER

• Louis traveled with many well-known brass bands in the late 1910s.
• After King Oliver’s departure from the Tuxedo Brass Band in 1919, Louis replaced him, and became second trumpeter.
• During his time on riverboats, playing along the Mississippi River, Louis learned a lot about musicianship, cultivating his own style, and also learning how to read music.
• In 1922, King Oliver invited Louis to perform in his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. He began recording in the studio with King Oliver in 1923.

CAREER BOOM

• While in Chicago, Louis met a pianist and talented musician by the name of Lil Hardin; they were married on February 4, 1924.,
• Lil Hardin helped Louis’ career to become more successful; he played in New York City for about a year, then returned to Chicago to record his most important works, called the “Armstrong Hot Five” and “Hot Seven” recordings, which took place between 1925 and 1928.
• By 1929, Louis had become a famous musician, touring America and Europe, and continually improving his playing ability.
• From the 1930s until about 1943, Louis and his band, the “Louis Armstrong Orchestra”, toured all around America.
• During the swing era (1935 to the mid-1940s), Louis experienced a few bumps in the road due to changing managers and experiencing problems with his fingers and lips as a result of his playing style.
• In addition, public interest in jazz and big band music tapered off in the mid-1940s.
• Sensing this shift in public preference, Joe Glaser (his new manager), dissolved the big band and replaced it with a smaller group that included Louis and other top swing musicians, calling the group “Louis Armstrong and His All Stars”, who remained popular for many years.
• During the 1950s, Louis continued to play, tour, and record music.
• In 1964, he recorded his biggest-selling record “Hello, Dolly!”.
• By 1968, due to health reasons, Louis stopped touring and made his final recordings.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S PERSONAL LIFE AND LEGACY

• Louis Armstrong had a colorful romantic life that included four wives but no children, although he did love kids.
• He was known to many as a charismatic and lively man who had a personality that the American public loved.
• Louis was an important and creative force in the jazz music era; he quickly became a cultural icon, and had the luxury of living a life that many African-American performers were not given during that era.
• As race relations were tense during the early 20th century, Louis Armstrong did experience some bouts of racism and discrimination, but he was largely accepted into white society.
• Louis remained politically neutral, which some musicians criticized him for, as they felt he didn’t use his celebrity to take a tough enough stand against segregated audiences, and felt that he wasn’t vocal enough during the American Civil Rights Movement.
• Others argued that the fact that Louis rarely spoke about these issues made his speeches more effective when he did speak out.
• Louis’s influence in the development of jazz is extensive – he had the capacity to express emotion and sensitivity when he played, and turned it into an art form.
• He was one of the only jazz musicians to record music for five decades.
• Louis was very fond of writing, and wrote two autobiographies, several magazine articles, and thousands of letters in his lifetime, as well as appearing in over 30 films.
• Louis is credited as being the only black jazz musician to have publicly spoken out against segregated schools in 1957.
• Louis Armstrong died in New York on July 6, 1971.

Louis Armstrong Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Louis Armstrong across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Louis Armstrong worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, and Pops, who was an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• Song Timeline
• Educational Foundation
• Programs of the Foundation
• Musical Influences
• Louis Armstrong Wordsearch
• Opinion Piece
• True or False?
• Louis Armstrong Crossword
• Louis in Five Words
• Letter to Louis Armstrong

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Louis Armstrong - Biography

Louis Armstrong Biography

Louis Daniel Armstrong (usually pronounced 'Louee' in the French pronunciation with a silent s) ( August 4 , 1901 1 � July 6 , 1971 ) (also known by the nicknames Satchmo and Pops ) was an American jazz musician . Armstrong was a charismatic, innovative performer whose musical skills and bright personality transformed jazz from a rough regional dance music into a popular art form. Probably the most famous jazz musician of the 20th century, he first achieved fame as a trumpeter , but towards the end of his career he was best known as a vocalist and was one of the most influential jazz singers .

Armstrong was born to a poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana . The date of his birth is August 4, 1901. His youth was spent in poverty in a rough neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, as his father, William Armstrong, abandoned the family when Louis was an infant. He first learned to play the cornet (his first of which was bought with money loaned to him by the Karnofskys, a Russia - Jewish immigrant family) in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for general delinquency, most notably for a long term after (as police records show) firing a pistol into the air at a New Year's Eve celebration. He followed the city's frequent brass band parades and listened to older musicians every chance he got, learning from Bunk Johnson , Buddy Petit , and above all Joe 'King' Oliver , who acted as a mentor and almost a father figure to the young Armstrong. Armstrong later played in the brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and first started traveling with the well regarded band of Fate Marable which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River ; he described his time with Marable as 'going to the University' since it gave him a much wider experience working with written arrangements . When Joe Oliver left town in 1919, Armstrong took Oliver's place in Kid Ory 's band, regarded as the top hot jazz band in the city.

Early career

In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago , where he had been invited by Joe 'King' Oliver to join his Creole Jazz Band. Oliver's band was the best and most influential hot jazz band in Chicago in the early 1920s, at a time when Chicago was the center of jazz. Armstrong made his first recordings, including taking some solos and breaks, while playing second cornet in Oliver's band in 1923.

Armstrong was happy working with Oliver, but his wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong , urged him to seek more prominent billing. He and Oliver parted amicably in 1924 and Armstrong moved to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top African American band of the day. Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. During this time, he also made many recordings on the side arranged by an old friend from New Orleans, pianist Clarence Williams ; these included small jazz band sides (some of the best pairing Armstrong with one of Armstrong's few rivals in fiery technique and ideas, Sidney Bechet ) and a series of accompaniments for Blues singers.

He returned to Chicago in 1925 and began recording under his own name with his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven with such hits as ' Potato Head Blues ', ' Muggles ' (a reference to marijuana , for which Armstrong had a lifelong fondness), and ' West End Blues ', the music of which set the standard and the agenda for jazz for many years to come. Armstrong's trumpet introduction to 'West End Blues' remains one of the most famous and celebrated improvisations in jazz history.

Armstrong returned to New York in 1929, then moved to Los Angeles in 1930, then toured Europe . After spending many years on the road, he settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster -ridden music business, he continued to develop his playing.

During the subsequent thirty years, Armstrong played more than three hundred gigs a year. Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940's due to changes in public tastes: ballrooms closed, and there was competition from television and from other types of music becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible to support and finance a 16-piece touring band.

The All Stars

Around 1950, Armstrong cut his band down to six pieces, going back to the Dixieland style that made him famous in the first place. This group was called the All Stars , and included at various times Barney Bigard , Jack Teagarden , Trummy Young , Arvell Shaw , Marty Napoleon , Big Sid Catlett , and Barrett Deems . During this period, he made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. In 1964, Armstrong recorded his biggest-selling record, Hello, Dolly .

Armstrong kept up his busy tour schedule until a few years before his death. While in his later years, he would sometimes play some of his numerous gigs by rote, but other times would enliven the most mundane gig with his vigorous playing, often to the astonishment of his band. He also toured Africa , Europe , and Asia under sponsorship of the US State Department with great success and become known as 'Ambassador Satch'. While failing health restricted his schedule in his last years, within those limitations he continued playing until the day he died.

Armstrong died of a heart attack in 1971 at age 69, the night after playing a famous show at the Waldorf Astoria 's Empire Room . He was interred in the Flushing Cemetery, Flushing , New York.

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Article: Louis Armstrong: The Personal and Musical Journey of the King of Jazz

Louis Armstrong: The Personal and Musical Journey of the King of Jazz

With only a fifth-grade education, an American jazz musician, Louis Armstrong, entered music history as a king of jazz and one of the most influential jazzmen of the 20 th century. In this article, we invite our readers to explore key facts about Louis Armstrong’s life and musical career.

Early Years of Louis Armstrong

The musician’s early years were far from being trouble-free. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901, Louis Armstrong was raised in a poor neighborhood called “The Battlefield.”  His father abandoned him and his young mother tried hard to make ends meet. Most of his early years, Louis spent with his grandmother, who cared about him.

His second home was among the local Lithuanian-Jewish family of Karnofskys, for whom he worked and who treated him like his own child. They gave him food and even helped him buy his first musical instrument, which was a cornet. The Star of David that one could see on the musician’s neck later was a sign of his gratitude to the Jewish family, who played a significant role in raising him.  

Louis started to learn music only when he turned 11. It all began with his arrest for firing a pistol in the street during a New Year’s Eve celebration. This incident led to his stay in a detention center known as the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. Later, Louis Armstrong spoke about that place as the one where he fell in love with music. He also believed that arrest helped him find the right path and finally learn something valuable. During the next 18 months of his stay there, he learned how to play bugle and cornet from the local music teacher, Peter Davis. As his inborn talent spoke for itself, Louis’ skill soon made him a star musician in the local brass band.

Louis Armstrong’s Musical Achievements and Collaborations

He was released from the Waif’s Home in 1914 with a clear idea to become a professional musician. First, Armstrong played in brass bands and riverboats, travelling with Fate Marable’s band.  For Louis, this time spent with Fate was like studying at university as he had learned a lot from that man, especially in terms of working with written arrangements.

One of the best local cornetists and a bandleader, Joe “King” Oliver, became Armstrong’s mentor and helped him become one of the most in-demand musician in the town. In 1922, Armstrong joined King Oliver’s band in Chicago. In 1923, they started to record music together. During this time, Armstrong dated Lillian Hardin, who was the pianist of the band and later became his wife.

Generally, Armstrong spent three years playing in jazz ensembles in Chicago. However, Lil Hardin always stressed the fact that he was very talented and should have his own band.  It was Hardin, who pushed Armstrong to leave Oliver for the sake of his own success.

After spending a year in New York with Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra, known as the top African-American band, Louis came back to Chicago in 1925, and for the first time started to record music under his own name.

Louis Armstrong’s bands

His first jazz recording band was Hot Five. Apart from them, he also organized a studio group called Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven to record for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois, in May 1927.

During 1925 and 1928, together with his Hot Five and Hot Seven, he released dozens of records that offered the world Louis’ improvisational solos on trumpet and his vocal improvisation with wordless syllables known as scat singing. His scat singing was a pure musical innovation for that time. Thanks to OKeh recordings, Armstrong became whom we know today as a real jazz star.

During the 1930s, Armstrong’s recordings were everywhere on the radio and in films. In 1932, he performed in Europe for the first time, and returned with much success but a damaged lip. A tough schedule and his fondness for playing high Cs on the trumpet resulted in severe lip issue, from which he suffered during his entire career.

In 1935, after his comeback to America, Louis Armstrong hired a manager and became a leader of the band as well as successfully collaborated with Decca, and starred in movies.

In the late 40s, when big bands started losing popularity, Armstrong switched to a small group, Louis Armstrong and His All Stars. Although musicians frequently changed there, this band was a driving force for the rest of his career.

During the late 1950s, Armstrong became an ambassador of the U.S. State Department as he took part in their program created to improve America’s image in other countries through charity tours. Thanks to this program, the musician played in many corners of the world.  After his trip across the African continent, Armstrong became an official cultural diplomat in 1960.

However, frequent touring not only contributed to Armstrong’s success, but also wore down his health. First he had a heart attack in 1959 and then had a health issue in 1968. Despite the doctor’s advice to stop playing, Armstrong practiced hard daily, in his home in Corona, Queens. After he returned to playing concerts in 1970, his health couldn’t take it anymore.  He died on July 6, 1971, a few months after his engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Armstrong’s Musical Legacy

Armstrong created many hits, including "What a Wonderful World", "Hello, Dolly!”, ”On the Sunny Side of the Street", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "When You're Smiling" and "When the Saints Go Marching In".

Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”

A Ballad “What a Wonderful World” was recorded in 1967, four years before the musician’s death. Although he performed it in many countries, it did not receive much attention and was never promoted well in the United States. Everything changed after the song was included in the soundtracks of the Robin Williams film “Good Morning, Vietnam.” It was the time when it finally got its popularity and reached the 33rd number on the Billboard charts. The ballad became Louis Armstrong’s iconic creation.

Awards and Grammies

Over 30 years of his musical career, Louis Armstrong played more than 300 concerts a year, recorded music and appeared in more than 30 films. The musician received many awards, such as the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Several of Armstrong's recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, including "St. Louis Blues", "Weather Bird", "All of Me", "When the Saints Go Marching In", "Hello, Dolly!” and "What a Wonderful World". According to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Armstrong's “West End Blues” was one of 500 songs that influenced Rock and Roll.

Additional Interesting Facts about Louis Armstrong

• He got a few nicknames: "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops".
• Armstrong's jazz music made him a global ambassador, as it transcended racial and cultural barriers.
• He was a charismatic performer, with remarkable stage presence and much respect within the music industry.
• Armstrong was the musician who brought attention to solo performance apart from collective improvisation.
• Louis was one of the first African-American performers who achieved widespread popularity with both White and international audiences.
• He was also a talented composer who had written more than 50 songs, and many of them became jazz standards.

Louis Armstrong's contributions to jazz can’t be underestimated. With undeniable talent, remarkable personality and innovative approaches, he entered the history of world music and popular culture as one of the greatest performers. He was beloved by the public as a person and respected by fellow musicians as an artist.

In our blog, you can learn interesting facts about other musicians, including Clifford Brown , Freddie Hubbard , Bobby Shew , Clark Terry , Wynton Marsalis and others.

Are you fond of playing jazz and searching for upgrades for your instrument? Check out our collection of accessories for brass , woodwind , orchestral string and percussion instruments.

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Louis Armstrong Biography

Birthday: August 4 , 1901 ( Leo )

Born In: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Louis Armstrong was an American jazz trumpeter and singer. He was one of the most influential figures in jazz music. Famous for his innovative methods of playing the trumpet and cornet, he was also a highly talented singer, blessed with a powerful gravelly voice. Known for his improvisation, Armstrong could induce dramatic effects with his music. Armstrong came into prominence in the mid-20th century when racism was prevalent in the USA. He was one of the first African-American entertainers to become highly popular among the white and the colored segments of society. Fondly nicknamed ‘Satchmo’ or ‘Pops’ by his fans, he is often regarded as the founding father of jazz. Born into poverty in New Orleans, he had a very difficult childhood as his father abandoned the family. As a young boy, he sought solace in music and started playing musical instruments as a teenager to earn a living. He soon discovered that he was naturally gifted in music. Over a period of time, he established himself as a respected player of jazz music. He entertained millions over the course of his long and illustrious career and went on to become one of the first great celebrities of the 20th century.

Recommended For You

Nick Name: Satchmo

Also Known As: Louis Daniel Armstrong, Satchmo

Died At Age: 69

Spouse/Ex-: Alpha Smith, Daisy Parker, Lil Hardin, Lucille Wilson, Alpha Smith (m. 1938–1942), Daisy Parker (m. 1918–1923), Lil Hardin Armstrong (m. 1924–1938), Lucille Wilsonm (m. 1942–1971)

father: William Armstrong

mother: Mary Albert, May-Ann

siblings: Beatrice Armstrong Collins, Henry Armstrong, William Armstrong

children: Clarence Armstrong, Dave Bartholomew, Sharon Preston-Folta

Born Country: United States

African American Men Jazz Musicians

Height: 5'6" (168 cm ), 5'6" Males

Died on: July 6 , 1971

place of death: Corona, New York, United States

Cause of Death: Heart Attack

U.S. State: Louisiana

City: New Orleans, Louisiana

discoveries/inventions: Swiss Kriss

You wanted to know

When did louis armstrong start playing the trumpet.

Louis Armstrong started playing the trumpet at the age of 13.

What was Louis Armstrong's nickname?

Louis Armstrong's nickname was "Satchmo," short for Satchel Mouth.

Where was Louis Armstrong born?

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

What was Louis Armstrong's impact on jazz music?

Louis Armstrong is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz music, known for his innovative trumpet playing and distinctive gravelly voice.

What was Louis Armstrong's signature song?

Louis Armstrong's signature song is "What a Wonderful World," which has become a classic and is one of his most popular recordings.

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Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, to William Armstrong, a factory worker, and Mary Albert. His family was very poor. His father abandoned the family when Louis was young. His mother often had to resort to prostitution to provide for the family.

He had to drop out of school in order to work and augment his mother’s meager income. He started singing on the streets for money and also began working for a Jewish family, the Karnofskys, who treated young Louis as a family member and appreciated his musical skills.

In 1912, he fired his step-father’s gun in the air during the New Year’s Eve celebration for which he was arrested and sent to the ‘Colored Waif's Home for Boys.’ There, he received musical instruction and realized that he had a natural talent for playing the cornet. By 1914, when he was released from home, he had realized that his life’s calling was to make music.

After being released from the ‘Colored Waif's Home for Boys,’ he started taking music more seriously and began playing with a number of bands. He also studied music under experienced musicians, such as Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and Joe "King" Oliver. By the late 1960s, he had become a popular jazz music player in New Orleans.

In 1922, he moved to Chicago and joined his mentor Joe Oliver’s ‘Creole Jazz Band.’ Chicago was thriving at that time and offered much scope for entertainers, especially musicians. Soon, Armstrong became very famous and successful and garnered a huge fan following.

Looking for better career prospects, he left Oliver’s band in 1924 and joined the ‘Fletcher Henderson Orchestra,’ the top African-American dance band in New York City. He proved to be a successful player and soon transformed Henderson’s band into what is today regarded as the ‘first jazz big band.’

America suffered from ‘The Great Depression’ during the late 1920s, and Armstrong’s hitherto thriving career suffered a setback. The depression caused several of the prominent clubs to shut down. Many of his fellow musicians switched to other professions to make a living.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1930 and played at the ‘New Cotton Club.’ The club was often visited by Hollywood personalities, and celebrities like Bing Crosby were regulars at the club. However, Armstrong did not stay there for long and returned to Chicago in 1931.

He traveled a lot during the 1930s and visited countries like Britain, Denmark, France, Scandinavia, and Holland where he performed at concerts. His popularity reached newer heights during the late-1930s.

He also ventured into films and played a band leader in the motion picture ‘Pennies from Heaven’ alongside Bing Crosby in 1936, becoming the first African-American to be billed in a major Hollywood movie. In the ensuing years, he went on to appear in several other movies alongside major Hollywood stars.

He continued performing and recording throughout the 1940s and 1950s, releasing a string of super hits like ‘Blueberry Hill,’ ‘That Lucky Old Sun,’ ‘La Vie En Rose,’ and ‘I Get Ideas.’ During the mid-1950s, his popularity skyrocketed and he embarked on world tours, visiting several countries and performing in front of sold-out crowds in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

His 1954 studio release ‘Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy’ is considered to be one of his masterpieces. Featuring timeless hits like ‘St. Louis Blues,’ ‘Yellow Dog Blues,’ ‘Loveless Love,’ and ‘Aunt Hagar's Blues,’ the album is described by ‘Allmusic’ as "essential music for all serious jazz collections."

Armstrong’s 1967 single ‘What a Wonderful World’ is an iconic song. At the time of its release, it peaked at No.1 in Austria and the UK. It also reached the top ten positions in several other countries like Denmark, Belgium, Ireland, and Norway.

Louis Armstrong was posthumously awarded the ‘Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 1972 by the ‘Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.’

He was inducted into the ‘Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame’ in 2017.

He was married four times. His first marriage was with a former prostitute named Daisy Parker in 1919. The marriage was tumultuous from the very beginning and soon ended in a divorce. He had adopted a young boy named Clarence over the course of this marriage.

He married Lil Hardin in 1924. His second wife played a major role in shaping Armstrong’s career, but the two drifted apart in the late 1920s and got divorced years later.

His third marriage was with Alpha Smith. This marriage lasted four years before ending in a divorce.

His fourth and final marriage was with a singer named Lucille Wilson, to whom he was married until his death in 1971.

A prolific musician, he led a very hectic life, often performing up to 300 concerts a year. His lifestyle began taking its toll on his health during the late-1960s and he started suffering from kidney and heart ailments. His health declined steadily in 1970, and he died in his sleep on July 6, 1971, at his home in Queens, New York.

In 2012, a woman named Sharon Preston claimed that she was his biological daughter. She claimed that she was born from an affair that he had with a dancer named Lucille Preston in the 1950s. Armstrong’s personal letters from the 1950s confirmed the fact that he had paid for her upbringing.

Louis Armstrong was an avid fan of Swiss Kriss herbal laxatives and swore by their effectiveness in keeping him healthy on tour.

He had a pet mongoose named General that he often brought on tour with him.

Armstrong was a talented artist and enjoyed painting in his spare time, often giving his artwork as gifts to friends and family.

See the events in life of Louis Armstrong in Chronological Order

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Louis Armstrong Biography

Louis Armstrong’s achievements are remarkable. During his career, he:

• Developed a way of playing jazz, as an instrumentalist and a vocalist, which has had an impact on all musicians to follow.
• Recorded hit songs for five decades, and his music is still heard today on television and radio and in films.
• Wrote two autobiographies, more than ten magazine articles, hundreds of pages of memoirs, and thousands of letters.
• Was the only Black Jazz musician to publicly speak out against school segregation in 1957.
• So popular that warring sides in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa temporarily stopped fighting in 1960 to attend an Armstrong concert.
• Appeared in more than thirty films (over twenty were full-length features) as a gifted actor with superb comic timing and an unabashed joy of life.
• Composed dozens of songs that have become jazz standards.
• Performed an average of 300 concerts each year, with his frequent tours to all parts of the world earning him the nickname “Ambassador Satch,” and became one of the first great celebrities of the twentieth century.

Louis Armstrong

• Born August 4 , 1901 · New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
• Died July 6 , 1971 · New York City, New York, USA (heart attack)
• Birth name Louis Daniel Armstrong
• The King of the Jazz Trumpet
• Height 5′ 5¾″ (1.67 m)
• Louis Armstrong grew up poor in a single-parent household. He was 13 when he celebrated the New Year by running out on the street and firing a pistol that belonged to the current man in his mother's life. At the Colored Waifs Home for Boys, he learned to play the bugle and the clarinet and joined the home's brass band. They played at socials, picnics and funerals for a small fee. At 18 he got a job in the Kid Ory Band in New Orleans. Four years later, in 1922, he went to Chicago, where he played second coronet in the Creole Jazz Band. He made his first recordings with that band in 1923. In 1929 Armstrong appeared on Broadway in "Hot Chocolates", in which he introduced Fats Waller 's "Ain't Misbehavin', his first popular song hit. He made a tour of Europe in 1932. During a command performance for King George V , he forgot he had been told that performers were not to refer to members of the royal family while playing for them. Just before picking up his trumpet for a really hot number, he announced: "This one's for you, Rex." - IMDb Mini Biography By: Dale O'Connor <[email protected]>
• Louis Armstrong is an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and actor who was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. Around 1922, he followed his mentor, Joe Oliver , to Chicago to play in the Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band . In Chicago, he spent time with other popular jazz musicians, reconnecting with his friend Bix Beiderbecke and spending time with Hoagy Carmichael and Lil Hardin . He earned a reputation at 'cutting contests', and relocated to New York in order to join Fletcher Henderson 's band. With his instantly recognizable rich, gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer and skillful improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song. He was also skilled at scat singing. Armstrong is renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice as well as his trumpet playing. By the end of Armstrong's career in the 1960s, his influence had spread to popular music in general. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tango Papa
• Spouses Lucille Wilson (October 12, 1942 - July 6, 1971) (his death) Alpha Smith (October 11, 1938 - 1942) (divorced) Lil Armstrong (February 5, 1924 - 1938) (divorced) Daisy Parker (March 24, 1919 - December 18, 1923) (divorced)
• Distinctive gravelly singing voice
• His famous blue suit with a white handkerchief
• His strong New Orleans accent
• His iconic, scat singing style
• The slang terms "cat" meaning a man about town and "chops" meaning a musician's playing ability were first coined by him.
• For most of his life, Louis Armstrong always gave July 4, 1900, as his birthdate, possibly because it was easy to remember. In all likelihood, he probably believed it himself. It wasn't until many years after his death that a birth record was found confirming the correct date as August 4, 1901.
• Refused to go a State Department-sponsored concert tour of the Soviet Union in 1959 because he felt the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower wasn't doing enough to promote civil rights legislation.
• He was laid to rest at the Flushing Cemetery, Section 9 in Flushing, Queens, New York City not too far from his home in Corona, Queens. His tombstone is a red granite, emblazoned simply "Satchmo" Louis Armstrong with a beautiful white trumpet figure laden on top. Buried with him is his last of four wives, Lucille Armstrong who died in 1983.
• Posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1990) (under the category Early Influence).
• I never tried to prove nothing, just wanted to give a good show. My life has always been my music, it's always come first, but the music ain't worth nothing if you can't lay it on the public. The main thing is to live for that audience, 'cause what you're there for is to please the people.
• All music is folk music. I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.
• What is jazz? Man, if you have to ask you'll never know.
• There's some folks, that, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
• If it wasn't for jazz, there wouldn't be no rock and roll.

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9 Things You May Not Know About Louis Armstrong

By: Evan Andrews

Updated: June 1, 2023 | Original: August 4, 2016

1. A Jewish immigrant family helped him buy his first horn.

Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, into a poverty-ridden section of New Orleans nicknamed “the Battlefield.” His father abandoned the family when Armstrong was a child, and his teenaged mother was often forced to resort to prostitution to make ends meet. Young Louis spent much of his boyhood in the care of his grandmother, but he also found a second home among the Karnofskys, a local Lithuanian-Jewish family who hired him to do odd jobs for their peddling business. The jazzman would later write that the Karnofskys treated him as though he were their own child, often giving him food and even loaning him money to buy his first instrument, a $5 cornet (he wouldn’t begin playing the trumpet until 1926). As a sign of his gratitude to his Jewish benefactors, Armstrong later took to wearing a Star of David pendant around his neck.

2. Armstrong first received musical training during a stint in juvenile detention.

Armstrong spent his youth singing on the street for spare change, but he didn’t receive any formal musical training until age 11, when he was arrested for firing a pistol in the street during a New Year’s Eve celebration. The crime earned him a stint in a detention facility called the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, and it was there that Armstrong claimed, “me and music got married.” He spent his 18-month sentence learning how to play bugle and cornet from the Waif’s Home’s music teacher, Peter Davis, and eventually became a star performer in its brass band. Armstrong continued honing his skills in New Orleans’ honkytonks after his release, and in 1919, he landed a breakthrough gig with a riverboat band led by musician Fate Marable. “I do believe that my whole success goes back to that time I was arrested as a wayward boy,” he later wrote, “because then I had to quit running around and began to learn something. Most of all, I began to learn music.”

3. His wife helped jumpstart his solo career.

After leaving New Orleans in 1922, Armstrong spent three years playing in jazz ensembles in Chicago and Harlem. He was largely content to be a journeyman musician, but his second wife, a pianist named Lil Hardin, believed he was too talented not have his own band. In 1925, while Armstrong was performing in New York, Hardin went behind his back and inked a deal with Chicago’s Dreamland Café to make him a featured act. She even demanded that he be billed as “The World’s Greatest Trumpet Player.” Armstrong was hesitant at first, but it turned out to be the best move of his career. Only a few days after he arrived back in Chicago, OKeh Records allowed him to make his first recordings under his own name. Between 1925 and 1928, he and his backup bands, the Hot Five and Hot Seven, went on to cut several dozen records that introduced the world to his improvisational trumpet solos and trademark scat singing. The OKeh recordings would later play a key role in establishing Armstrong as a legendary figure in jazz. His marriage to Hardin, meanwhile, proved less successful—the couple divorced in 1938.

4. Armstrong was one of the first celebrities to be arrested for drug possession.

Armstrong made no secret of his fondness for marijuana , which he described as “a thousand times better than whiskey.” In 1930, when the drug was still not widely known, he and drummer Vic Berton were arrested after police caught them smoking a joint outside the Cotton Club in California. Armstrong served nine days in jail for the bust, but despite his brush with law, he continued using marijuana regularly for the rest of his life. “It makes you forget all the bad things that happen to a Negro,” he once said.

5. His playing style took a heavy toll on his lips.

Thanks to a relentless touring schedule and his penchant for hitting high Cs on the trumpet, Armstrong spent much of his career battling severe lip damage. He played with such force that he often split his lip wide open, and he suffered from painful scar tissue that a fellow musician once said made his lips look “as hard as a piece of wood.” Armstrong treated his lip callouses with a special salve or even removed them himself using a razor blade, but as the years passed, he began struggling to hit his signature high notes. The trumpeter was so famously hard on his “chops,” as he called them, that a certain type of lip condition is now commonly known as “Satchmo’s Syndrome.”

6. Armstrong famously criticized President Dwight D. Eisenhower over segregation.

Armstrong’s hesitancy to speak out against racism was a frequent bone of contention with his fellow black entertainers, some of whom branded him an “Uncle Tom.” In 1957, however, he famously let loose over segregation. At the time, a group of black students known as the “Little Rock Nine” were being prevented from attending an all-white high school in Arkansas. When asked about the crisis in an interview, Armstrong replied, “The way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell.” He added that President Dwight D. Eisenhower was “two-faced” and had “no guts” for not stepping in, and declared that he would no longer play a U.S. government-sponsored tour of the Soviet Union.

The comments caused a sensation in the media. Some whites even called for boycotts of the trumpeter’s shows, but the controversy soon blew over after Eisenhower sent soldiers to desegregate the schools in Little Rock. “I feel the downtrodden situation the same as any other Negro,” Armstrong later said of his decision to speak out. “I think I have a right to get sore and say something about it.”

7. He served as a “musical ambassador” for the U.S. State Department.

During the height of the Cold War in the late 1950s, the U.S. State Department developed a program to send jazz musicians and other entertainers on goodwill tours to improve America’s image overseas. Armstrong was already known as “Ambassador Satch” for his concerts in far-flung corners of the globe, but in 1960, he became an official cultural diplomat after he took off on a three-month, State Department-sponsored trip across Africa. The trumpeter and his band, the All Stars, proceeded to take the continent by storm. “In Accra, Ghana, 100,000 natives went into a frenzied demonstration when he started to blow his horn,” the New York Times later wrote, “and in Léopoldville, tribesmen painted themselves ochre and violet and carried him into the city stadium on a canvas throne.” One of the most remarkable signs of Armstrong’s popularity came during his stopover in the Congo’s Katanga Province, where the two sides in a secession crisis called a one-day truce so they could watch him play. He would later joke that he had stopped a civil war.

8. At age 62, Armstrong surpassed The Beatles at the top of the pop charts.

In late-1963, Armstrong and his All Stars recorded the title track for an upcoming musical called “Hello, Dolly!” The trumpeter didn’t expect much from the tune, but when the show debuted on Broadway the following year, it became a runaway hit. By May, “Hello Dolly!” had soared to the top of the charts, displacing two songs by The Beatles, who were then at the height of their popularity. At age 62, Armstrong became the oldest musician in American history to have a number one song.

9. The song 'What a Wonderful World' was not a hit during his lifetime.

Armstrong is widely remembered for his rosy ballad “What a Wonderful World,” which he recorded in 1967, just four years before his death. But while the song performed well overseas, it was not well promoted in the United States and flopped upon its initial release. According to Armstrong biographer Terry Teachout, “What a Wonderful World” didn’t make a comeback until 1987, when it was included in the soundtrack of the Robin Williams film “Good Morning, Vietnam.” It was then reissued and shot to number 33 on the Billboard charts, and since then it’s become one of Armstrong’s signature tunes.

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1. louis was arrested by police when he was eleven, 2. armstrong spent his adult life celebrating his birthday on the wrong date.

Portrait of Jazz musician Louis Armstrong by Herman Hiller – Wikimedia Commons

3. As a child, Armstrong’s wide smile earned him nicknames like “Dippermouth,” “Gatemouth” and “Satchelmouth.”

4. armstrong’s wife helped jumpstart his career.

Lucille Wilson and Louis Armstrong by SAS Scandinavian Airlines – Wikimedia Commons

5. While playing before the royal family, Louis Armstrong gave King George V a new nickname

6. louis’ playing style took a heavy toll on his lips.

Photo of Louis Armstrong by New York Sunday News – Wikimedia Commons

7. “What a Wonderful World” didn’t make a hit in the U.S. during Armstrong’s lifetime

8. louis served as a musical ambassador for the u.s. state department during the cold war.

Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars by Richard Proctor – Wikimedia Commons

9. Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly!” surpassed The Beatles at the top of the pop charts

10. armstrong was long silent publicly on race issues, something that angered some of his black fans, 11. the appearance of louis in film, and television series, 12. his awards and honors over the years, 13. louis’ legacy through generations.

William P. Gottlieb , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

14. Louis Armstrong was Honored by a Museum

15. louis used religion and faith in his career, 16. louis armstrong was a representative of jazz, 17. his music was used for moon landing.

NASA , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

18. Louis Armstrong had a Strong Influence on Music and Culture

19. louis was involved in many philanthropic work.

Unknown photographer , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

20. He was an Advocate for Racial Equality

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