- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLouis Daniel Armstrong
- Nicknames
- The King of the Jazz Trumpet
- Satchmo
- Pops
- Height5′ 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 <daleoc@worldnet.att.net>
- 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
- SpousesLucille 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.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content