Don Cornell (born Luigi Francisco Varlaro; April 21, 1919 – February 23, 2004) was an American singer.

Early years

Born to an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

family in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Cornell attended Roosevelt High School in the Bronx.

Career

In his teens he played guitar in a band led by jazz trumpeter

Red Nichols Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader. He was one of the most prolific and influential jazz musicians in the late 1920s and early 1930s, appearing on over 4,000 ...

. When he was eighteen, he was a vocalist in the

Sammy Kaye Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

band. He became a solo act in 1949. Between 1950 and 1962, twelve of his records were certified gold. These included the million-seller " It Isn't Fair", plus "

I'll Walk Alone "I'll Walk Alone" is a 1944 popular song with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was written for the 1944 musical film '' Follow the Boys'', in which it was sung by Dinah Shore, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Bes ...

", " I'm Yours", and " Hold My Hand". He appeared often on television programs hosted by

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

Jackie Gleason Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed a style and characters from growin ...

, and

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days ...

during the 1950s and 1960s. When singing at the

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in Kentucky, he appeared many times on the Ruth Lyons television program and was a substitute host. In 1953, he was on the TV program '' Chance of a Lifetime''. He had a radio program on KGO in San Francisco in 1953. In 1959, Cornell, comedian

Martha Raye Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including on Broadway. She was hono ...

, and other investors formed The Big Daddy Mining Company. The company planned to mine "a rich gold vein on a hillside near Coarsegold, California". Cornell worked as a singer into the 1990s. He and his wife founded the label Iris as a division of MCA to release songs he recorded for

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and Dot earlier in his career. These albums include ''Something to Remember Me By'' and ''From Italy with Love''.

Awards and honors

Cornell was named to the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

in 1963. In 1993, he was inducted into the Big Band Hall of Fame. His 1952 hit "I" was the only single-character pop chart entry until

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

's No. 7 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit " 7" from 1992 and the only single-letter hit until

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "''exhibit''), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, radio personality, and record executive. He began his musical career in 1992, ...

's No. 76 Hot 100 hit " X" from 2000. "Hold My Hand" sold over one million copies and topped the UK Singles Chart in 1954. Cornell's 1955 hit "Young Abe Lincoln" holds the record for highest debuting pop single (No. 25) to spend only one week on the ''Billboard'' chart.

Death

Cornell died in Aventura, Florida, from

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

and

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

at the age of 84.

Hit records

References

External links

*
Don Cornell recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell, Don 1919 births 2004 deaths Jazz musicians from New York (state) Singers from New York City People from Aventura, Florida 20th-century American singers American jazz musicians American people of Italian descent American male pop singers Big band singers Traditional pop music singers Deaths from diabetes in Florida Deaths from emphysema Jubilee Records artists RCA Victor artists 20th-century American male singers American male jazz musicians