Kay Starr, Hillbilly Singer with Crossover Appeal , Dies at 94

NYT ^ | 11/4/2016 | David Belcher

[Borges]

Kay Starr, the self-described hillbilly singer who crisscrossed jazz, country, pop, blues and rock ’n’ roll in the 1950s with hits like “Wheel of Fortune” and “Rock and Roll Waltz,” died on Thursday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94.

The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter and only immediate survivor, Katherine Yardley, said.

Ms. Starr, whose career began when she was a teenager and continued into her 80s, was a rarity: a singer who blossomed in the big-band era of the 1930s and 1940s, hit it big as a pop and country artist, and scored one of her biggest hits in the emerging rock scene of the mid-1950s.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

I remember her. When I was growing up, my parents controlled the radio and the station they listened to played the kind of music Kay Starr sang. I am not complaining — that exposure helped me to appreciate music outside of rock. RIP.

[bigbob]

A sad loss - you can find her popular recordings on YouTube but when looking for one to post on this thread as a tribute I found the one below. How fortunate she was to be this vibrant and able to still sing just 2 years ago at age 92!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upW6UYlPBaU

RIP Miss Starr, you were one of the true greats.

[Fiddlstix]

R.I.P.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

The Wheel of Fortune
https://youtu.be/JgELNz5YDUs

[MrsTn]

Lovely voice

[oh8eleven]

My in-laws (WWII generation) were Big Band fans and that’s how I learned of Kay Starr. Great voice. RIP.

[joesbucks]

I used to play big band music on the radio in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Played some of her cuts with Glenn Miller and Charlie Barnett.

Growing up, my parents had a copy of Wheel of Fortune that got played quite frequently.

[oh8eleven]

I used to play big band music on the radio in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
My in-laws played it all the time as did my mother. I felt as at-home with it as I did rock&roll.
Fast forward to 2003 (or so) ... Time Warner Cable dropped the Big Band music channel so I called to complain.
The guy says no one listens to it anymore - the WWII generation is just about gone. Sad but true.

[joesbucks]

So true. The ranks of the greatest generation is becoming evermore thin.

[Gator113]

May she RIP.

94 years....longer than a good many get.

[clearcarbon]

I didn't know she'd still been around. Kay had an acting part in a 1957 made-for-TV movie called The Pied Piper of Hamelin that stared Van Johnson and Claude Rains. My familiarity with the performer comes from that show.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Talented singer. RIP.