Events

February 6 – Contralto Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Mary Ferrier CBE was an English contralto who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the classical works of Bach, Brahms, Mahler and Elgar...

, already terminally ill with cancer, leaves Covent Garden Opera House on a stretcher after being taken ill on the second night of her run in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.
March 12 – Heinrich Sutermeister
Heinrich Sutermeister
Heinrich Sutermeister was a Swiss opera composer.-Life and career:During the early 1930s he was a student at the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich where Carl Orff was his teacher and Orff remained a powerful influence on his music. Returning to Switzerland in the mid 1930s, he devoted his life to...

's opera Romeo and Juliet receives its first UK performance at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...

in London, conducted by James Robertson.
May 26 – Werner Meyer-Eppler
Werner Meyer-Eppler
Werner Meyer-Eppler , was a German physicist, experimental acoustician, phoneticist, and information theorist....

, Fritz Enkel, Herbert Eimert
Herbert Eimert
Herbert Eimert was a German music theorist, musicologist, journalist, music critic, editor, radio producer, and composer.-Life:...

, and Robert Beyer open a pioneering electronic music studio at the Cologne studios of the NWDR
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...

(Morawska-Büngeler 1988, 11–12).
July 16–July 29 – The Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik are held at Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...

.
July 18 – Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

makes his first recordings
Elvis Presley's Sun recordings
Elvis Presley's Sun recordings were made by Elvis Presley at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A. between 1953 and 1955. The recordings were produced by Sam Phillips. Memphis is a melting pot of many types of music: both black music and white music , the recordings reflect these influences...

.
September 27 – Helen Traubel
Helen Traubel
Helen Francesca Traubel was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, she began her career as a concert singer and went on to sing at the Metropolitan...

ends her long association with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

, after having appeared in Chicago as a night-club singer (Anon. 1953).
October – Sir Arthur Bliss
Arthur Bliss
‎Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...

replaces Sir Arnold Bax
Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...

as Master of the Queen's Music
Master of the Queen's Music
Master of the Queen's Music is a post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England.The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate...

.
October 5 – Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...

and the soloist's in the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...

's production of Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...

publicly protest the suspension of Egon Hilbert
Egon Hilbert
Egon Hilbert was an Austrian opera/theatre director.- Biography :Hilbert was born in Vienna, Austria where he would later study law and philosophy at the Universität Wien....

as administrator of the Burg Theater and State Opera.
October 19 – Opening of the Covent Garden opera season, with a production of Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

's Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...

.
October 30 – Ernst Marboe is announced as the new administrator of the Vienna State Opera and Burg Theater, replacing Egon Hilbert.
November 2 – the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

announces that a new two-year contract has been agreed with the musicians' union, averting a threatened strike by the orchestra.
November 17 – Carl Ebert
Carl Ebert
Carl Ebert was a German theatre and opera producer and administrator.-Biography:He worked as an actor and theatre director in Germany from 1915 to 1927, directing Brecht's In The Jungle of Cities in Darmstadt in 1927...

is announced as the new Intendant of the Städtische Oper, (West) Berlin.
December 7 – the La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

opera season opens with a production of Alfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas Loreley and La Wally...

's La Wally
La Wally
La Wally is a four-act opera by Alfredo Catalani, composed on a libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed at La Scala, Milan on 20 January 1892....

, to mark the hundredth anniversay of the composer's birth.
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...

becomes a student of Evgeny Golubev
Evgeny Golubev
Evgeny Kirillovich Golubev was a Russian Soviet composer.He was taught by Nikolai Myaskovsky, and his students included Alfred Schnittke, who studied with him from 1953 until 1958 and Michael L. Geller...

.
Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

begins recording at Capitol.
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...

sets the all-time United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

record for weeks at Number One in a given year on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, when his hit singles "Answer Me," "Hey Joe!" and "I Believe" held the top slot for 27 weeks: a little over half a year. "I Believe," which was Number One for 18 weeks also holds the all-time record for a single. Over 50 years later, both records still hold.
Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...

becomes "The Coca-Cola Kid" on the television show, Coke Time at a salary of one million dollars a year.
The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...

form in Los Angeles.
"Crazy Man, Crazy
Crazy Man, Crazy
"Crazy Man, Crazy" was the title of an early rock and roll song first recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in April 1953. It is notable as the first recognized rock and roll recording to appear on the national American musical charts, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Juke Box chart for the week...

", recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...

, becomes the first rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

single to make the Billboard national American musical charts.
The Erato Records
Erato Records
Erato Records is a record label founded in 1953 to promote French classical music. In 1992 it became part of Warner Bros. Records. In 1999 Erato launched a subsidiary Detour Records....

label is founded to promote French classical music.

Albums released

Anita O'Day Collates – Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
Broadway's Best – Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (album)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a Doris Day album featuring songs from the movie of the same name. It was issued by Columbia Records as a 10" long-playing record, catalog number CL-6248....

– Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane (album)
Calamity Jane was the name of a 10" LP album, released by Columbia Records on November 9, 1953, of songs sung by Doris Day and Howard Keel from the movie of the same name...

– Doris Day
Country Girl – Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
Dean Martin Sings – Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
Dinah Shore Sings the Blues – Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
Georgia Gibbs Sings Oldies – Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
Jazz at Massey Hall
Jazz at Massey Hall
Jazz at Massey Hall is a live jazz album featuring a performance by "The Quintet" given on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall in Toronto. The quintet was composed of several leading 'modern' players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach...

– The Quintet
Kay Starr Style – Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
May I Sing To You – Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm
New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm
-Track listing:-Commentary:Fresh from the commercial failure of his Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra, Kenton returned to the studio and the road with a new jazz band, featuring some of the top-flight west coast players he had come to know since his last jazz band broke up in 1950...

– Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
Portrait Of New Orleans – Jo Stafford and Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
Requested By You – Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
Sinatra Sings His Greatest Hits – Frank Sinatra
Some Fine Old Chestnuts
Some Fine Old Chestnuts
Some Fine Old Chestnuts was Bing Crosby's second Decca long play album, recorded and originally released in 1953.Some Fine Old Chestnuts is done in collaboration with Crosby's pianist, Buddy Cole, and is an album of Standards.-Track listing:...

– Bing Crosby
Songs By Tom Lehrer
Songs By Tom Lehrer
-Production and release history:Songs by Tom Lehrer was recorded in a single one hour session on January 22, 1953 at the TransRadio studio in Boston for the total studio cost of $15. The first pressing was an issue of 400 copies, produced at Lehrer's own expense in the 10" LP record format. Records...

– Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
Songs of Open Spaces – Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
Starring Jo Stafford
Starring Jo Stafford
Starring Jo Stafford is a 1953 album by Jo Stafford,with Paul Weston and His Orchestra accompaniment by The Starlighters and The Pied Pipers...

– Jo Stafford

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions
in the limited set of charts available for 1953.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Chart entries
1	Dean Martin Dean Martin Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...	That's Amore That's Amore "That's Amore" is a 1952 song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Jack Brooks. It became a major hit, signature song for Dean Martin in 1953. Amore means "love" in Italian....	1953	US BB 1 of 1953, POP 1 of 1953, UK 2 – Jan 1954, US 1940s 2 – Nov 1953, RYM 2 of 1953, Scrobulate 47 of Italian, DDD 73 of 1953, Party 101 of 2007
2	Les Paul Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations... & Mary Ford Mary Ford Mary Ford , born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits...	Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You) Vaya con Dios (song) "Vaya con Dios" is a popular song written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper, and published in 1953....	1953	US 1940s 1 – Jun 1953, US 1 for 11 weeks Aug 1953, Italy 2 of 1954, US BB 3 of 1953, POP 3 of 1953, UK 7 – Nov 1953, RYM 24 of 1953, Europe 97 of the 1950s
3	Perry Como Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...	Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" is an off meter ballad concerning a man away from home worried that his paramour may unwittingly stray from their relationship. The song was recorded in many different styles by many artists. It was written by Winston L. Moore and was published in 1952...	1953	UK 1 – Jan 1953, US 1940s 1 – Dec 1952, US 1 for 5 weeks Jan 1953, US BB 20 of 1953, POP 20 of 1953, RYM 31 of 1953
4	Eddie Fisher Eddie Fisher (singer) Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...	I'm Walking Behind You I'm Walking Behind You "I'm Walking Behind You" is a popular song written by Billy Reid and published in 1953.Eddie Fisher's rendition of the song became a number-one hit single on both the Cash Box and Billboard record charts in 1953 in the United States, as well as reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart.The...	1953	UK 1 – May 1953, US 1940s 1 – May 1953, US 1 for 2 weeks Jul 1953, US BB 16 of 1953, POP 23 of 1953, RYM 119 of 1953
5	Hank Williams	Your Cheatin' Heart Your Cheatin' Heart "Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music...	1953	RYM 1 of 1953, DDD 2 of 1953, US BB 4 of 1953, POP 4 of 1953, RIAA 34, Scrobulate 87 of country, Rolling Stone 213, Acclaimed 286

US No. 1 hit singles

These singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1953.

First week	Number of weeks	Title	Artist
January 10, 1953	5	"Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" is an off meter ballad concerning a man away from home worried that his paramour may unwittingly stray from their relationship. The song was recorded in many different styles by many artists. It was written by Winston L. Moore and was published in 1952... "	Perry Como Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
February 14, 1953	5	"Till I Waltz Again With You Till I Waltz Again with You "Till I Waltz Again with You" is a popular song written by Sid Prosen and published in 1952. Rather than a waltz, it is a slow AABA shuffle.The recording by Teresa Brewer was recorded on August 19, 1952 and released by Coral Records as catalog number 60873... "	Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
March 21, 1953	8	"The Doggie in the Window"	Patti Page Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
May 16, 1953	10	"The Song from Moulin Rouge The Song from Moulin Rouge "The Song from Moulin Rouge" is a popular song that first appeared in the 1952 film Moulin Rouge.... "	Percy Faith Percy Faith Percy Faith was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and... & his Orchestra
July 25, 1953	2	"I'm Walking Behind You I'm Walking Behind You "I'm Walking Behind You" is a popular song written by Billy Reid and published in 1953.Eddie Fisher's rendition of the song became a number-one hit single on both the Cash Box and Billboard record charts in 1953 in the United States, as well as reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart.The... "	Eddie Fisher Eddie Fisher (singer) Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
August 8, 1953	9	"Vaya con Dios Vaya con Dios (song) "Vaya con Dios" is a popular song written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper, and published in 1953.... "	Les Paul Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations... & Mary Ford Mary Ford Mary Ford , born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits...
October 10, 1953	4	"St. George and the Dragonet St. George and the Dragonet "St. George and the Dragonet" is a short audio satire recorded August 26, 1953 by Stan Freberg for Capitol Records. It was released September 21, 1953 as a 45 rpm single .... "	Stan Freberg Stan Freberg Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
November 7, 1953	2	"Vaya con Dios Vaya con Dios (song) "Vaya con Dios" is a popular song written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper, and published in 1953.... "	Les Paul Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations... & Mary Ford Mary Ford Mary Ford , born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits...
November 21, 1953	6	"Rags to Riches Rags to Riches (song) "Rags to Riches" is a 1953 popular song by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Tony Bennett and reached number one on the Billboard chart in 1953. In the same year, a version by David Whitfield reached number three in the British charts... "	Tony Bennett Tony Bennett Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....

Top hits on record

"Allez-Vous-En
Allez-Vous-En
"Allez-Vous-En" is a popular song. It was written by Cole Porter and was published in 1953.The song was featured in the musical Can-Can.A recording by Kay Starr was the biggest hit. This recording was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2464. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best...

" – Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
"Answer Me, O Lord" – Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
"Anywhere I Wander
Anywhere I Wander
"Anywhere I Wander" is a popular song.It was written by Frank Loesser. The song was published in 1951. It was introduced by Danny Kaye in the musical film Hans Christian Andersen....

" – Julius La Rosa
Julius La Rosa
Julius La Rosa is an American traditional popular music singer who has worked in both radio and television since the 1950s.-Early years and big break:...
"April in Portugal
April in Portugal (song)
"April in Portugal" is a popular song, also named "The Whisp'ring Serenade." The music and lyrics were written by Raul Ferrão as a fado named "Coimbra", about the city of that name. In 1947. English lyrics written by Jimmy Kennedy were set to the music, though many of the most popular versions of...

", recorded by
- Les Baxter
  Les Baxter
  Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
  
  Orchestra
- Richard Hayman
  Richard Hayman
  Richard Hayman is an American arranger, harmonica player, and conductor.Hayman started out as a player and arranger for the Borrah Minnevitch Harmonica Rascals before becoming an arranger for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during the early 1940s. He did arrangements for the MGM films Girl Crazy,...
  
  Orchestra
- Freddy Martin
  Freddy Martin
  Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
  
  Orchestra
- Vic Damone
  Vic Damone
  Vic Damone is an American singer and entertainer.- Early life :Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to French-Italian immigrants based in Bari, Italy—Rocco and Mamie Farinola. His father was an electrician; and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer...
"Bridge Of Sighs" – Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
"Bye Bye Blues
Bye Bye Blues (song)
"Bye Bye Blues" is a popular and jazz standard written by Fred Hamm, Dave Bennett, Bert Lown, and Chauncey Gray and published in 1930.The year it was introduced it was sung by The Vikings on the NBC radio series, The Vikings. It has been recorded by many artists, but the best-known recording is one...

" – Les Paul and Mary Ford
Les Paul and Mary Ford
Les Paul and Mary Ford were a popular 1950s husband-and-wife/group musical team in which Les Paul played the guitar and Mary Ford sang. In 1951 alone, they sold six million records....
"Changing Partners
Changing Partners
Not to be confused with the song of the same name by Irving Berlin."Changing Partners" is a pop song with music by Larry Coleman and lyrics by Joe Darion. It was published in 1953.The best-known recording was made by Patti Page...

" – Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
"The Doggie in the Window" – Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
"Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes
"Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" is an off meter ballad concerning a man away from home worried that his paramour may unwittingly stray from their relationship. The song was recorded in many different styles by many artists. It was written by Winston L. Moore and was published in 1952...

" – Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
"Dragnet
Dragnet (theme song)
"Dragnet" is an instrumental theme from the radio and television show of the same name. It was composed by Walter Schumann for the radio show, and was also used on the subsequent television series and later syndication of the TV series under the name "Badge 714"...

" – Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor.- Biography :...
"Eh Cumpari" – Julius LaRosa
"Even Now" – Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
"Floatin' Down To Cotton Town" – Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...

& Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
"The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart" – The Four Aces
The Four Aces
The Four Aces is an American male traditional pop music quartet, popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me...

featuring Al Alberts
Al Alberts
Al Alberts was a popular singer and composer. -Biography:Born Al Albertini in Chester, Pennsylvania, he went to South Philadelphia High School, whose alumni included many others who would become famous in show business, such as Joey Bishop, Buddy Greco, Al Martino, Mario Lanza, Chubby Checker,...
"Granada
Granada (song)
"Granada" is a Mexican song written in 1932 by Agustín Lara. The song is about the Spanish city of Granada and has become a "standard" in music repertoire....

" – Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
"Half a Photograph
Half a Photograph
"Half a Photograph" is a popular song.The music was written by Harold Stanley, the lyrics by Bob Russell. The song was published in 1952 ....

" – Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
"Have You Heard?
Have You Heard?
"Have You Heard?" is a popular song written by Lew Douglas, Charlie LaVere, and Roy Rodde and published in 1952. The biggest hit version was recorded by Joni James in 1952, charting the next year. The song was revived by The Duprees and became a hit again in 1963.The recording by Joni James was...

" – Joni James
Joni James
Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
"Hey Joe
Hey Joe (1953 song)
"Hey Joe" is a 1953 popular song written by Boudleaux Bryant. It was recorded by Carl Smith for Columbia Records on 19 May 1953 and spent eight weeks at #1 on the U.S. country music chart...

" – Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
"Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
"Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo" is a popular song with music by Bronislau Kaper, and lyrics by Helen Deutsch. The song was published in 1952. The song was featured in the movie Lili which starred Leslie Caron.-Recorded versions:...

" – Leslie Caron
Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for guest actress in a drama series...

& Mel Ferrer
Mel Ferrer
Mel Ferrer was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Early life:Ferrer was born Melchor Gastón Ferrer in Elberon, New Jersey, of Catalan and Irish descent. His father, Dr. José María Ferrer , was born in Cuba, was an authority on pneumonia and served as chief of staff of St....
"Home Lovin' Man" – Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
"Hound Dog
Hound Dog (song)
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...

" – Big Mama Thornton
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks in 1953. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million...
"I Believe
I Believe (1953 song)
"I Believe" is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953.I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV...

" – Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
"I'm Walking Behind You
I'm Walking Behind You
"I'm Walking Behind You" is a popular song written by Billy Reid and published in 1953.Eddie Fisher's rendition of the song became a number-one hit single on both the Cash Box and Billboard record charts in 1953 in the United States, as well as reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart.The...

" – Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
"Istanbul " is a swing-style song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. The tune is reminiscent of "Puttin' on the Ritz," written by Irving Berlin in 1929, but the song is said to be a response to "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E," recorded in 1928 by Paul Whiteman and His...

" – The Four Lads
The Four Lads
The Four Lads is a popular Canadian male singing quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group earned many gold singles and albums. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Moments to Remember," "Standin' on the Corner," "No, Not Much," "Who Needs You," and "Istanbul."The Four Lads makes...
"The Jones Boy" – The Mills Brothers
"The Kid's Last Fight
The Kid's Last Fight
The Kid's Last Fight was a song written by Bob Merrill and first recorded by Frankie Laine in the early 1950s at Columbia Records. The recording by Laine reached #20 on the Billboard charts.The song was eventually covered by The Statler Brothers for their 10th Anniversary album, released in 1980 on...

" – Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
"Look At That Girl
Look at That Girl
"Look at That Girl" is a 1953 popular song. It was written by Bob Merrill and produced by Mitch Miller. The song was recorded by Guy Mitchell and it gave him his second #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart where it spent six weeks at the top....

" – Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
"Make Her Mine" – Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
"Make Love to Me
Make Love to Me
- Mann/Weiss/Gannon song :With music by Paul Mann and Stephan Weiss, and lyrics by Kim Gannon, it was recorded in 1942 by Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra...

" – Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
"No Other Love
No Other Love (1953 song)
"No Other Love" is a show tune from the 1953 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Me and Juliet.Richard Rodgers originally composed this tune for the NBC television series Victory at Sea...

" – Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
"Oh! My Pa-Pa" – Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
"Outside of Heaven
Outside of Heaven
"Outside of Heaven" is a popular music song written by Sammy Gallop and Chester Conn. A recording by Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter's orchestra and chorus was made at Manhattan Center, New York City, on July 19, 1952. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4953 and by EMI...

" – Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
"Pretend" – Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
"Rags to Riches
Rags to Riches (song)
"Rags to Riches" is a 1953 popular song by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Tony Bennett and reached number one on the Billboard chart in 1953. In the same year, a version by David Whitfield reached number three in the British charts...

" – Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
"Ricochet
Ricochet (song)
"Ricochet" is a popular song. The credits show it to be written by Larry Coleman, Joe Darion, and Norman Gimbel, without apportioning the work on the lyrics and music, in 1953...

" – Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
"Same Old Saturday Night" – Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
"Secret Love" – Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
"Seven Lonely Days
Seven Lonely Days
In 1969, Jean Shepard released a version from her album Seven Lonely Days. It was her first single to become a major hit since 1967's "Your Forevers Don't Last Very Long". Shepard's versions reached #18 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Singles chart and #34 on the RPM Country Singles chart.-...

" – Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
"Side by Side
Side by Side (1927 song)
"Side by Side" is a popular song with lyrics by Gus Kahn and music by Harry M. Woods written in 1927, now considered a standard.It has been recorded by many artists, but is probably best known in a 1953 recording by Kay Starr.-Recorded versions:...

" – Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
"The Song from Moulin Rouge
The Song from Moulin Rouge
"The Song from Moulin Rouge" is a popular song that first appeared in the 1952 film Moulin Rouge....

" – Percy Faith
Percy Faith
Percy Faith was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and...

(Felicia Sanders
Felicia Sanders
Felicia Sanders was a singer of traditional pop music.Born Felice Schwartz in Mount Vernon, New York. She sang in the 1940s, with big bands and on the radio, based in Los Angeles....

vocal)
"Stranger in Paradise
Stranger in Paradise (song)
"Stranger in Paradise" is a popular song from the 1953 musical Kismet and is credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest. Like all the music in that show, the melody was based on music composed by Alexander Borodin, in this case, the "Gliding Dance of the Maidens," from the Polovtsian...

" – Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
"Tell Me a Story" – Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...

& Jimmy Boyd
Jimmy Boyd
Jimmy Boyd was an American singer, musician, and actor. He was best known for his recording of the novelty song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".-Early years:...
"That's Amore
That's Amore
"That's Amore" is a 1952 song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Jack Brooks. It became a major hit, signature song for Dean Martin in 1953. Amore means "love" in Italian....

" – Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
"Three Coins in the Fountain
Three Coins in the Fountain (song)
"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a popular song which received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1954.The melody was written by Jule Styne, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was written for the romance film, Three Coins in the Fountain and refers to the act of throwing a coin into the Trevi...

" – Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
"The Typewriter" – Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler...

& His Orchestra
"Vaya con Dios
Vaya con Dios (song)
"Vaya con Dios" is a popular song written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper, and published in 1953....

" – Les Paul and Mary Ford
Les Paul and Mary Ford
Les Paul and Mary Ford were a popular 1950s husband-and-wife/group musical team in which Les Paul played the guitar and Mary Ford sang. In 1951 alone, they sold six million records....
"Wishing Ring" – Joni James
Joni James
Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
"Young at Heart" – Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
"Your Cheatin' Heart
Your Cheatin' Heart
"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music...

", recorded by
- Frankie Laine
  Frankie Laine
  Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
- Joni James
  Joni James
  Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...

Top R&B and Country hits on record

"Big Foot May" – Hal Paige & His Blues Boys
"Big Mamou Daddy – Carmen Taylor
"The Clock" – Johnny Ace
Johnny Ace
Johnny Ace , born John Marshall Alexander, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, was an American rhythm and blues singer. He scored a string of hit singles in the mid-1950s before dying of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound....

with the Beale Streeters
"Crazy Man Crazy" – Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
"Crying In The Chapel" – The Orioles
The Orioles
The Orioles were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal bands who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound....
"Good Lovin' " – The Clovers
The Clovers
-History:The group formed in 1946 at Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C., with members Harold Lucas, Billy Shelton, and Thomas Woods. John "Buddy" Bailey was added soon after, and they began calling themselves the "Four Clovers", with Bailey on lead...
"Hound Dog
Hound Dog (song)
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...

" – Big Mama Thornton
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks in 1953. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million...
"Let The Boogie Woogie Roll" – Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
"Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean)" – Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
"Mend Your Ways" – Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
"Mess Around
Mess Around
"Mess Around", written by Atlantic Records president and founder Ahmet Ertegün using the pseudonym of "A. Nugetre", or "Nuggy" on record labels, was one of Ray Charles’ first hits...

" – Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
"Please Don't Leave Me" – Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
"Shake A Hand" – Faye Adams
Faye Adams
Faye Adams is an American vocalist.-Early years:She was the daughter of David Tuell, a gospel singer and a key figure in the Church of God in Christ...
"Wild Wild Young Men" – Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
"Your Cheatin' Heart
Your Cheatin' Heart
"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music...

" – Hank Williams

Published popular music

"And This Is My Beloved
And This Is My Beloved
"And This Is My Beloved" is a popular song.It was from the 1953 musical Kismet and is credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest. Like all the music in that show, the melody was in fact based on music composed by Alexander Borodin, in this case, Borodin's String Quartet in D.The same melody had...

" w. & m. adapted Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...

& George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...
"Angel Eyes" w. Earl Brent m. Matt Dennis
Matt Dennis
Matt Dennis was a singer, pianist, bandleader, arranger, and writer of music for popular music songs.He was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother was a violinist and his father a singer, and the family was in vaudeville, so he was early exposed to music. In 1933 he joined Horace Heidt's...
"Anna" w.(Eng) William Engvick (Ital) F. Giordano m. R. Vatro
"Answer Me, My Love
Answer Me, My Love
"Answer Me, My Love" is a popular song, originally written by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch. The English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman in 1953....

" w. (Eng) Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...

(Ger) & m. Gerhard Winkler & Fred Ravich
"Baubles, Bangles And Beads" w. & m. adapt Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...

& George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...

. Introduced by Doretta Morrow in the musical Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
"Bell Bottom Blues
Bell Bottom Blues (1953 song)
"Bell Bottom Blues" is a popular song.The music was written by Leon Carr, the lyrics by Hal David. The song was published in 1953.The biggest hit version in the United States was recorded by Teresa Brewer. In the United Kingdom, the song was a hit for Alma Cogan.The recording by Teresa Brewer was...

" w. Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...

m. Leon Carr
"Bimbo
Bimbo (song)
Bimbo was a popular song written in either 1948 or 1949 by Glenn O'Dell, but credited to Rodney Morris or "Pee Wee" King. The song was recorded by Gene Autry and originally released on vinyl as a 78rpm single in 1954. It can also be found on the 1998 album, Always Your Pal, Gene Autry...

" w.m. Rodney Morris
Rodney Morris
Rodney Morris is a professional pool player of Hawaiian descent. He currently resides in Spring Hill, Florida....
"Black Hills Of Dakota" w. Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...

m. Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...

. Introduced by Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

in the film Calamity Jane.
"The Boy Friend" w.m. Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson is an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical The Boy Friend .-Biography:Wilson was born Alexander Galbraith Wilson in Sale, Greater Manchester, and was educated at Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford. During the war he served in the Royal Ordnance Corps in Great...

.
"Can-Can" w.m. Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
"Caribbean" w.m. Mitchell Torok
Mitchell Torok
Mitchell Torok is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1953 hit, "Caribbean".-Biography:...
"C'est Magnifique
C'est Magnifique
"C'est Magnifique" is a 1953 popular song written by Cole Porter for his 1953 musical Can-Can, where it was introduced by Lilo and Peter Cookson The song has become a standard, despite weak performance in the 1953 charts...

" w.m. Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

. Introduced by Lilo
Lilo (singer)
LiLo, born Linda Lopez, in Mexico, grew up in Los Angeles, CA since the age of two with a very clear purpose of her destiny in music. Something that propelled this singer-songwriter to launch her career with a great spirit of independence...

and Peter Cookson
Peter Cookson
Peter Cookson was a stage and film actor of the 1940s and 1950s. Cookson, once married to stage and film actress Beatrice Straight, acted in films G.I. Honeymoon and Fear...

in the musical Can-Can
Can-Can (musical)
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....
"Changing Partners
Changing Partners
Not to be confused with the song of the same name by Irving Berlin."Changing Partners" is a pop song with music by Larry Coleman and lyrics by Joe Darion. It was published in 1953.The best-known recording was made by Patti Page...

" w. Joe Darion
Joe Darion
Joe Darion, was an American musical theatre lyricist, most famous for Man of La Mancha.Darion was born in New York City and died in Lebanon, New Hampshire.-External links:* at the Internet Broadway Database...

m. Larry Coleman
"Chicka Boom
Chicka Boom
"Chicka Boom" is a popular song was written by Bob Merrill. The song was published in 1953. It appeared in the 1953 movie, Those Redheads From Seattle....

" w.m. Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...
"Crying In the Chapel
Crying in the Chapel
"Crying in the Chapel" is a song written by Artie Glenn for his son Darrell to sing. Darrell recorded it while still in high school in 1953, along with Artie's band the Rhythm Riders. It became a local hit and publishers got a hold of it and it went nationwide. He released the original version as...

" w.m. Artie Glenn
"Cry Me a River" w.m. Arthur Hamilton
Arthur Hamilton
Arthur Hamilton is an American songwriter, who is best known for writing the song "Cry Me a River", first published in 1953 and most famously recorded by Julie London in 1955....
"Dragnet
Dragnet (theme song)
"Dragnet" is an instrumental theme from the radio and television show of the same name. It was composed by Walter Schumann for the radio show, and was also used on the subsequent television series and later syndication of the TV series under the name "Badge 714"...

" w.m. Walter Schumann
Walter Schumann
Walter Schumann was an American composer for film, television, and the theater. His notable works include the score for The Night of the Hunter and the Dragnet Theme...
"Ebb Tide" w. Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...

m. Robert Maxwell
"Eh, Cumpari!
Eh, Cumpari!
"Eh, Cumpari!" is a novelty song. It was adapted from a traditional Italian song by Julius La Rosa and Archie Bleyer in 1953, and sung by La Rosa with Bleyer's orchestra as backing on a recording that year....

" trad Ital w. m. adapt. Julius LaRosa & Archie Bleyer
Archie Bleyer
Archie Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.-Early life:He was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. He began playing the piano when he was only seven years old...
"Ev'rybody Loves Saturday Night" Campbell
"Fate
Fate (1953 song)
"Fate" is a popular song from the 1953 musical Kismet and is credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest. Like all the music in that show, the melody was in fact based on music composed by Alexander Borodin, in this case, Borodin's Symphony No.2....

" w. & m. adapt Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...

& George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...

from music by Alexander Borodin
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...

Adapted from Symphony No. 2 in B Minor. It was introduced by Alfred Drake
Alfred Drake
Alfred Drake was an American actor and singer.-Biography:Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Brooklyn College...

and Doretta Morrow in the musical Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...

.
"From Here to Eternity" w. Robert Wells m. Fred Karger
"Gambler's Guitar" w.m. Jim Lowe
"Gee!" w.m. Viola Watkins, Daniel Norton & William Davis
"Giddy-Up-A Ding Dong
Giddy Up a Ding Dong
Giddy Up A Ding Dong is a rock and roll song which rose to prominence in 1956, when it was featured in the film, Rock Around the Clock starring Bill Haley...

" w.m. Freddie Bell, Pep Lattanzi
"Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite" James Hudson, Calvin Carter
"Half a Photograph
Half a Photograph
"Half a Photograph" is a popular song.The music was written by Harold Stanley, the lyrics by Bob Russell. The song was published in 1952 ....

" w. Bob Russell
Bob Russell (songwriter)
Sidney Keith "Bob" Russell, was an American songwriter born in Passaic, New Jersey.In 1968, Russell along with songwriting partner Quincy Jones was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category...

m. Hal Stanley
"The Happy Wanderer
The Happy Wanderer
"The Happy Wanderer" is a popular song by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller written shortly after World War II. It is often mistaken for a German folk song, but it is actually an original composition...

" w.(Ger) Florenz Siegesmund & Edith Möller (Eng) Antonia Ridge m. Friedrich Wilhelm Möller
"Here's That Rainy Day
Here's That Rainy Day
"Here's That Rainy Day" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke, published in 1953. It was introduced by Dolores Gray in the Broadway musical Carnival in Flanders...

" w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
James Van Heusen
Jimmy Van Heusen , was an American composer. He wrote songs mainly for films and television , and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song.-Life and career:...

. Introduced by John Raitt
John Raitt
John Emmett Raitt was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theater.-Early years:...

in the musical Carnival In Flanders
Carnival in Flanders (musical)
Carnival in Flanders is a 1953 musical with a book by Preston Sturges, lyrics by Johnny Burke, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen.Based on the 1934 French comedy film La Kermesse Héroïque, it is set in 1616 in the small Flemish village of Flackenburg, where a Spanish duke and his entourage descend upon...

.
"Hold My Hand
Hold My Hand (1953 song)
"Hold My Hand" is a popular song, written by Jack Lawrence and Richard Myers. It was written in 1950 but only published in 1953.The hit version in 1953 was a recording by Don Cornell. The song was featured in the film, Susan Slept Here, and was nominated for the 1954 Academy Award for Best Song...

" w.m. Jack Lawrence
Jack Lawrence
Jack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...

& Richard Myers
Richard Myers (songwriter)
Richard Myers was a songwriter.Together with Jack Lawrence he wrote "Hold My Hand," which was nominated for the 1954 Academy Award for Best Song....
"I Believe
I Believe (1953 song)
"I Believe" is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953.I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV...

" w.m. Ervin Drake
Ervin Drake
Ervin Drake, born Ervin Maurice Druckman is an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "It Was a Very Good Year". He has written in a variety of styles and his work has been recorded by musicians from all over the world in a multitude of styles...

, Jimmy Shirl, Irvin Graham & Al Stillman
Al Stillman
Al Stillman was an American lyricist.-Biography:Stillman was born in New York City. His name was originally Albert Silverman, but changed it to that of a well-known New York banking family. He was Jewish. He attended New York University. After graduation, he contributed to Franklin P...
"(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely
(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely
" I Get So Lonely" is a popular song. It was written by Pat Ballard and was published in 1953.The biggest hit version was done by The Four Knights in 1954.Anne Shelton with Ken Mackintosh and his orchestra recorded it in London on March 3, 1954...

" w.m. Pat Ballard
"I Love Paris
I Love Paris
"I Love Paris" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1953. The song was introduced by Lilo in the musical Can-Can.Was the title of Michel Legrand's most popular album, which included an orchestral arrangement of the song...

" w.m. Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

. Introduced by Lilo
Lilo (singer)
LiLo, born Linda Lopez, in Mexico, grew up in Los Angeles, CA since the age of two with a very clear purpose of her destiny in music. Something that propelled this singer-songwriter to launch her career with a great spirit of independence...

in the musical Can-Can
Can-Can (musical)
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....
"I Really Don't Want To Know
I Really Don't Want to Know
"I Really Don't Want to Know" is a popular song with music was written by Don Robertson and lyrics by Howard Barnes. The song was published in 1953....

" w. Howard Barnes m. Don Robertson
"I'm Walking Behind You
I'm Walking Behind You
"I'm Walking Behind You" is a popular song written by Billy Reid and published in 1953.Eddie Fisher's rendition of the song became a number-one hit single on both the Cash Box and Billboard record charts in 1953 in the United States, as well as reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart.The...

" w.m. Billy Reid
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
"Istanbul " is a swing-style song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. The tune is reminiscent of "Puttin' on the Ritz," written by Irving Berlin in 1929, but the song is said to be a response to "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E," recorded in 1928 by Paul Whiteman and His...

" w. Jimmy Kennedy
Jimmy Kennedy
Jimmy Kennedy OBE was an Irish songwriter, predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer", or co-writing with the composers Michael Carr, Wilhelm Grosz and Nat Simon amongst others.-Biography:Kennedy was born near Omagh...

m. Nat Simon
"It's All Right With Me
It's All Right with Me
"It's All Right With Me" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for his 1953 musical Can-Can, where it was introduced by Peter Cookson as the character Judge Aristide Forestier.The song is also used in the Cole Porter musical High Society...

" w.m. Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
"It's Love" w. Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...

& Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...

m. Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

. Introduced by George Gaynes
George Gaynes
George Gaynes is a Finnish-born American actor of stage, screen and television.He may be best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie,...

in the musical Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...

. Performed in the 1955 London production by Dennis Bowen.
"Just Walkin' In The Rain
Just Walkin' in the Rain
"Just Walkin' in the Rain" is a popular song. It was written in 1952 by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley, two prisoners at Tennessee State Prison in Nashville, after a comment made by Bragg as the pair crossed the courtyard while it was raining...

" w.m. Johnny Bragg & Robert S. Riley
"Little Things Mean a Lot
Little Things Mean a Lot
"Little Things Mean a Lot" is a popular song written by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz , published in 1953. Lindeman was the leisure editor of the Richmond Times-Despatch and Stutz a disc jockey from Richmond, Virginia....

" w.m. Carl Stutz & Edith Lindeman
"Look at That Girl
Look at That Girl
"Look at That Girl" is a 1953 popular song. It was written by Bob Merrill and produced by Mitch Miller. The song was recorded by Guy Mitchell and it gave him his second #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart where it spent six weeks at the top....

" w.m. Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...
"Make Love to Me
Make Love to Me
- Mann/Weiss/Gannon song :With music by Paul Mann and Stephan Weiss, and lyrics by Kim Gannon, it was recorded in 1942 by Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra...

" w. Alan Copeland & Bill Norvas Music from "Tin Roof Blues
Tin Roof Blues
Tin Roof Blues is a jazz composition first recorded by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1923. It was written by band members Paul Mares, Ben Pollack, Mel Stitzel, George Brunies and Leon Roppolo...

" 1923.
"The Man That Got Away
The Man that Got Away
"The Man that Got Away" is a popular song, published in 1953 and was written for the 1954 version of the movie A Star Is Born. The music was written by Harold Arlen, and the lyrics by Ira Gershwin...

" w. Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....

m. Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
"The Man With The Banjo" w. (Eng) Robert Mellin m. Fritz Schulz Reichel
"Marriage Type Love" w. Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

m. Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

. Introduced by Arthur Maxwell and Helena Scott in the musical Me And Juliet
Me and Juliet
Me and Juliet is a musical comedy by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and their sixth stage collaboration. The work tells a story of romance backstage at a long-running musical: assistant stage manager Larry woos chorus girl Jeanie behind the back of her electrician boyfriend, Bob...

.
"Matilda, Matilda!
Matilda (song)
"Matilda" is a calypso lamenting a woman who took a man for all he was worth.The song dates back to at least the 1930s, when calypso pioneer King Radio recorded the song...

" w.m. Harry Thomas
"Melancholy Serenade" m. Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
"Mexican Joe
Mexican Joe
José Barrera became famous as Wild West showman, Mexican Joe.Barrera was reportedly born in Juarez, Mexico in 1882. In 1897, Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show was the first to hire Barrera as a performer. Only fifteen years old at the time, Barrera was already an expert equestrian and roper...

" w.m. Mitchell Torok
"Money Burns a Hole In My Pocket" w. Bob Hilliard
Bob Hilliard
Bob Hilliard was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs; "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", "Any Day Now", "Dear Hearts and Gentle People", "Our Day Will Come", "My Little Corner of the World", and "Seven Little Girls ".-Career:Born in New York City, New York, and after...

m. Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...

. Introduced by Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

in the 1954 film Living It Up
Living It Up
Living It Up is a 1954 film comedy starring the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and released by Paramount Pictures.The film was directed by Norman Taurog and produced by Paul Jones. The screenplay by Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson was based on the 1953 musical Hazel Flagg by Ben Hecht, in...

.
"Money Honey" w.m. Jesse Stone
"My Love, My Love
My Love, My Love
"My Love, My Love" is a popular song.It was written by Nicholas Acquaviva and Bob Haymes and published in 1953.The biggest hit version was done by Joni James in 1953...

" w. Bob Haymes m. Nick Acquaviva
Nick Acquaviva
Anthony "Tony" Acquaviva Anthony "Tony" Acquaviva Anthony "Tony" Acquaviva (April 11, 1925 - September 27, 1986, also known professionally as Acquaviva, was an American composer, conductor and string instrumentalist, a student of Serge Koussevitzky and the founder of the New York "Pops" Symphony...
"No Other Love
No Other Love (1953 song)
"No Other Love" is a show tune from the 1953 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Me and Juliet.Richard Rodgers originally composed this tune for the NBC television series Victory at Sea...

" w. Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

m. Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

. Introduced by Isabel Bigley
Isabel Bigley
Isabel Bigley was an American actress, perhaps best remembered for originating the part of Sarah Brown in Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls.-Biography:...

and Bill Hayes in the musical Me And Juliet
Me and Juliet
Me and Juliet is a musical comedy by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and their sixth stage collaboration. The work tells a story of romance backstage at a long-running musical: assistant stage manager Larry woos chorus girl Jeanie behind the back of her electrician boyfriend, Bob...

.
"Non Dimenticar
Non Dimenticar
"Non Dimenticar" is a popular song with music by P. G. Redi , the original Italian lyrics by Michele Galdieri, with English lyrics by Shelley Dobbins...

" w.(Eng) Shelley Dobbins (Ital) Michele Galdieri m. P. G. Redi
"Not Since Nineveh" w. & m. adapt Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...

& George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...

From Borodin's "Polovetsian Dances".
"Oh! My Pa-Pa" w. John Turner
John Turner (lyricist)
John Turner was the pseudonym used by the English lyricist James John Turner Phillips.He ran the Peter Maurice Music Company whose most important lyricist was Geoffrey Parsons. The company specialized in adapting songs originally in foreign languages into the English language. He would usually...

& Geoffrey Parsons m. Paul Burkhard
Paul Burkhard
Paul Burkhard was Swiss composer. He wrote primarily Oratoria, Musicals and Operettas.His probably most famous artistic creation was the song Oh mein Papa , about the death of a beloved clown-father, written for the musical "Der Schwarze Hecht" that premiered in April 1939...
"The Olive Tree" w. & m. adapt Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...

& George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...

from music by Alexander Borodin
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
"Rags to Riches
Rags to Riches (song)
"Rags to Riches" is a 1953 popular song by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Tony Bennett and reached number one on the Billboard chart in 1953. In the same year, a version by David Whitfield reached number three in the British charts...

" w.m. Richard Adler
Richard Adler
Richard Adler is an American lyricist, composer and producer of several Broadway shows.-Biography:Born in New York City, Adler had a musical upbringing, his father being a concert pianist. After serving in the Navy he began his career as a lyricist, teaming up with Jerry Ross in 1950...

& Jerry Ross
Jerry Ross (composer)
Jerry Ross was an American lyricist and composer whose works with Richard Adler for the musical theater include The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, winners of Tony Awards in 1955 and 1956 respectively in both the "Best Musical" and "Best Composer and Lyricist" categories.-Biography:Ross was born...
"Ricochet
Ricochet (song)
"Ricochet" is a popular song. The credits show it to be written by Larry Coleman, Joe Darion, and Norman Gimbel, without apportioning the work on the lyrics and music, in 1953...

" w.m. Larry Coleman, Joe Darion
Joe Darion
Joe Darion, was an American musical theatre lyricist, most famous for Man of La Mancha.Darion was born in New York City and died in Lebanon, New Hampshire.-External links:* at the Internet Broadway Database...

& Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
"Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...

" w.m. Jimmy De Knight & Max C. Freedman
"Santa Baby
Santa Baby
"Santa Baby" is a 1953 Christmas song written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer. Although Tony Springer is listed as co-writer, he was a legal fiction created for purposes of membership in the performing rights organization BMI.The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list sung by a...

" w.m. Joan Javits, Phil Springer & Tony Springer
"Satin Doll
Satin Doll
"Satin Doll" is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1953, the song has been recorded countless times, by such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, 101 Strings, and Nancy Wilson...

" w.m. Billy Strayhorn
Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...

& Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
"Secret Love" w. Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...

m. Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...

. Introduced by Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

in the film Calamity Jane
"Seven Lonely Days
Seven Lonely Days
In 1969, Jean Shepard released a version from her album Seven Lonely Days. It was her first single to become a major hit since 1967's "Your Forevers Don't Last Very Long". Shepard's versions reached #18 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Singles chart and #34 on the RPM Country Singles chart.-...

" w.m. Alden Shuman, Earl Shuman & Marshal Brown
"Shake a Hand
Shake a Hand
"Shake a Hand" is a 1953 single written by trumpeter and bandleader Joe Morris and originally performed by Faye Adams, whose version hit number one on the R&B chart for nine weeks.-Cover versions:*Red Foley...

" w.m. Joe Morris
"Sippin' Soda" adapt. P. Campbell
"The Song From "Moulin Rouge"" (aka "Where Is Your Heart") w. (Eng) William Engvick
William Engvick
William Engvick is an American lyricist, many of whose compositions appear in films.Engvick graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1937. He is best known for his collaborations with composer Alec Wilder; they produced songs for the Broadway musical Once Over Lightly , and for...

(Fr) Jacques Larue m. Georges Auric
Georges Auric
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
"Stranger in Paradise
Stranger in Paradise (song)
"Stranger in Paradise" is a popular song from the 1953 musical Kismet and is credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest. Like all the music in that show, the melody was based on music composed by Alexander Borodin, in this case, the "Gliding Dance of the Maidens," from the Polovtsian...

" w. & m. adapt Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...

& George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...

. Introduced by Doretta Morrow and Richard Kiley in the musical Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...

.
"Such a Night
Such a Night
"Such a Night" is a popular song from 1953, written by Lincoln Chase and first recorded by The Drifters.The Drifters' original version, featuring Clyde McPhatter, was recorded in November 1953 and released in January 1954...

" w.m. Lincoln Chase
"Sway
Sway (song)
"Sway" is the English version of "¿Quién será?", a 1953 mambo song by Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. The most famous version is that of Dean Martin recorded in 1954. English lyrics are by Norman Gimbel...

" ("Quien Será") w. (Eng) Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...

(Sp) Pablo Beltrán Ruiz
Pablo Beltrán Ruiz
Pablo Beltrán Ruiz was a Mexican composer and band leader most famous for composing the Spanish language song "¿Quién será?", a hit made famous internationally by Dean Martin as "Sway" in 1954, and later by Bobby Rydell in 1960, with English lyrics by Norman Gimbel.Pablo Beltrán Ruiz was born in...

m. Pablo Beltran Ruiz
"Teach Me Tonight
Teach Me Tonight
"Teach Me Tonight" is a popular song. The music was written by Gene De Paul, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was published in 1953.Cahn wrote a new verse for Frank Sinatra's 1984 recording on L.A...

" w. Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

m. Gene De Paul
Gene de Paul
Gene de Paul was an American pianist, composer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in New York City, he served in the United States Army during World War II....
"Tell Me a Story" w.m. Terry Gilkyson
Terry Gilkyson
Hamilton H. Gilkyson III , better known as Terry Gilkyson, was an American folk singer, composer, and lyricist.-Biography:...
"Tell Us Where the Good Times Are" w.m. Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...
"That's Amore
That's Amore
"That's Amore" is a 1952 song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Jack Brooks. It became a major hit, signature song for Dean Martin in 1953. Amore means "love" in Italian....

" w. Jack Brooks
Jack Brooks (lyricist)
Jack Brooks was an English-American lyricist.Brooks was born in Liverpool, England. He wrote a large number of lyrics of popular songs, including "Ole Buttermilk Sky" "That's Amore" and " Wagon Train" the second theme used on the television program, Wagon...

m. Harry Warren
Harry Warren
Harry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...
"Vaya con Dios
Vaya con Dios (song)
"Vaya con Dios" is a popular song written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper, and published in 1953....

" w.m. Larry Russell, Inez James & Buddy Pepper
"Wanted" w.m. Jack Fulton
Jack Fulton
Jack Fulton is a frozen food retailer chain based in Darton in South Yorkshire and operating throughout the Midlands and North of England.-History:The Company was founded by Jack Fulton in 1960 as a poultry business...

& Lois Steele
"When Love Goes Wrong" w. Harold Adamson
Harold Adamson
For the Toronto Police Chief see Harold Adamson Harold Adamson was an American lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s.- Biography :...

m. Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...

from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
"You Won't Forget Me
You Won't Forget Me
You Won't Forget Me is a 1991 studio album by Shirley Horn.Miles Davis made his last appearance as a sideman on this album.-Track listing:# "The Music That Makes Me Dance" - 6:32...

" w. Kermit Goell m. Fred Spielman Introduced by India Adams dubbing for Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....

in the film Torch Song
Torch Song
Torch Song was a British synthpop and dance band of the early 1980s consisting of William Orbit, Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. In 1985, Grant left to pursue other projects and long-time friend Rico Conning officially joined the group. After the release of 'Exhibit A' in 1987, Torch Song as a...
"You, You, You
You, You, You
"You, You, You" is a popular song published in 1953. The music was written by Lotar Olias, the original German lyrics by Walter Rothenberg, with English lyrics written by Robert Mellin....

" w.(Eng) Robert Mellin (Ger) Walter Rothenberg m. Lotar Olias
"Young at Heart" w. Carolyn Leigh
Carolyn Leigh
Carolyn Leigh was an American lyricist for Broadway, movies, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come."-Biography:...

m. Johnny Richards

Classical music

George Crumb
George Crumb
George Crumb is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello , metallic vibrato for the piano George Crumb (born...

– Viola Sonata
Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker was an English composer who lived in the United States for the last thirty years of his life....

– Viola Concerto
Cristobal Halffter
Cristóbal Halffter
Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina is a Spanish composer. He is the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter.-Life:...

– Piano Concerto
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann was a German composer. Some have lauded him as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, although he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries.-Life:...

– Concerto for piano, winds and percussion
György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...

– Sonata for Solo Cello
Solo Cello Sonata (Ligeti)
The Sonata for Solo Cello is an unaccompanied cello sonata written by György Ligeti between 1948 and 1953. The piece was initially received poorly by the Soviet-run Composer's Union and was not allowed to be published or performed...
Otto Luening
Otto Luening
Otto Clarence Luening was a German-American composer and conductor, and an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music....

– Fantasy in Space
Xavier Montsalvatge
Xavier Montsalvatge
Xavier Montsalvatge i Bassols was a Spanish Catalan composer and music critic. He was one of the most influential music figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the 20th century.-Life:...

– Poema Concertante
Giacinto Scelsi
Giacinto Scelsi
Giacinto Scelsi , Count of Ayala Valva was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French....

– Five Incantations for piano
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
- Ballet Suite No. 4
- Symphony No. 10 E minor, Op. 93
  Symphony No. 10 (Shostakovich)
  The Symphony No. 10 in E minor by Dmitri Shostakovich was premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky on 17 December 1953, following the death of Joseph Stalin in March that year...
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...

-
- Kontra-Punkte
- Klavierstücke I–IV (revised version)
- Studie I, electronic music
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...

– Sinfonia antartica
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
- Harp Concerto
- Cello Concerto No. 2

Opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

The Decembrists (Yuri Shaporin) first staged 23 June 1953 at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow.
The Dumb Wife (Joseph Horovitz
Joseph Horovitz
Joseph Horovitz is a British composer and conductor. Horovitz's family emigrated to England in 1938. He studied music and modern languages at New College, Oxford, and later attended the Royal College of Music in London, studying composition with Gordon Jacob. He then undertook a year of further...

), premiered 21 November 1953 at the Guildhall School, London, by the Intimate Opera Company.
Gloriana
Gloriana
Gloriana is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Elizabeth and Essex by Lytton Strachey...

(Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

) composed 1953, first performed on 8 July 1953 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in the presence of Elizabeth II.
Irmelin (Frederick Delius
Frederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...

) composed 1890–92; first produced Oxford, 4 May 1953.
Lenora 40/50 (Rolf Liebermann
Rolf Liebermann
Rolf Liebermann , was a Swiss composer and music administrator born in Zurich, and associated with several different musical genres. His output included chansons, classical, and light music. His classical music often combines myriad styles and techniques, including those drawn from baroque,...

) first produced in Berlin on 12 February 1953 at the State Opera House in the British sector.
Man of Enterprise (Denis Bloodworth) first produced on 8 December 1953 at Tiffin School, Kingston, Surrey, by the school operatic society.
Menna (Arwel Hughes
Arwel Hughes
Arwel Hughes OBE , was a Welsh orchestral conductor and composer.Hughes was born in Rhosllannerchrugog near Wrexham and was educated at Ruabon Grammar School and at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams and C. H. Kitson...

) premiered by the Welsh National Opera at the Pavilion in Cardiff on 9 November, with the composer conducting.
Nelson (Lennox Berkeley
Lennox Berkeley
Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley was an English composer.- Biography :He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford...

), premiered in a concert performance 14 February 1953 by the English Opera Group at Wigmore Hall, London.
Sevil
Sevil
Sevil is a common feminine Turkish given name. "Sevil" derives from "Sev". In Turkish, "Sev" means "to Love" and "Sevil" means the "be Loved".-People:...

(Fikrat Amirov)
Three's Company (Antony Hopkins
Antony Hopkins
Antony Hopkins CBE is an English composer, pianist, conductor, and radio broadcaster.Hopkins was born in London under the name Ernest William Antony Reynolds; his surname was changed during his childhood to Hopkins...

), premiered 21 November 1953 at the Guildhall School, London, by the Intimate Opera Company.
The Tinners of Cornwall (Inglis Gundry), premiered 30 September 1953 at Rudolf Steiner Hall, conducted by Geoffrey Corbett.

Musical theater

Airs On A Shoestring London
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

opened at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...

on April 22 and ran for 772 performances
At The Lyric London production
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...

(Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson is an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical The Boy Friend .-Biography:Wilson was born Alexander Galbraith Wilson in Sale, Greater Manchester, and was educated at Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford. During the war he served in the Royal Ordnance Corps in Great...

) commenced at London's Players Club on April 14 and reopened in an expanded version on October 13 before moving to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

proper in 1954.
Braziliana London production
The Buccaneer London production
Can-Can
Can-Can (musical)
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....

(Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

) – Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

production opened at the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...

on May 7 and ran for 892 performances
Hazel Flagg
Hazel Flagg
Hazel Flagg is a musical with a book by Ben Hecht, lyrics by Bob Hilliard, and music by Jule Styne. The musical is based on the 1937 screwball comedy film Nothing Sacred...

Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre is a generally used name of a former legitimate Broadway theater, located at 237 West 51st Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Since 1991, it has been known as the Times Square Church...

on February 11 and ran for 190 performances
John Brown's Body
John Brown's Body
"John Brown's Body" is an American marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The tune arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the 19th century...

opened February 14
John Murray Anderson's Almanac
John Murray Anderson's Almanac
John Murray Anderson's Almanac is a musical revue, featuring the music of the songwriting team of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, as well as other composers...

Broadway revue opened at the Imperial Theatre on December 10 and ran for 227 performances
The King And I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...

(Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

and Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

) London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...

on October 8 and ran for 926 performances
Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...

Broadway production opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre
Ziegfeld Theatre
The Ziegfeld Theatre was a Broadway theater located at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1927 and, despite public protests, was razed in 1966....

on December 3 and ran for 583 performances
Maggie Broadway production opened at the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

on February 18 and ran for 5 performances
Me And Juliet
Me and Juliet
Me and Juliet is a musical comedy by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and their sixth stage collaboration. The work tells a story of romance backstage at a long-running musical: assistant stage manager Larry woos chorus girl Jeanie behind the back of her electrician boyfriend, Bob...

Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on May 28 and ran for 358 performances
Paint Your Wagon (Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...

and Frederick Loewe) – London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

on February 11 and ran for 477 performances
The Wayward Way
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...

(Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

, Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...

and Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...

) – Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre
Winter Garden Theatre
The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1634 Broadway in midtown Manhattan.-History:The structure was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt in 1896 to be the American Horse Exchange....

on February 25 and ran for 559 performances

Musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

s

The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis is a black and white 1953 comedy musical film. The film is based on the same writings by Max Shulman as the subsequent television series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis...

starring Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...

, Bobby Van, Barbara Ruick
Barbara Ruick
-Youth:Ruick was the daughter of actors Lurene Tuttle and Melville Ruick. She grew up acting out scenes with dolls, employing her mother as an audience. She attended Theodore Roosevelt High School , Burbank High School , and North Hollywood High School. She did little acting in high school but...

and Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
The Band Wagon
The Band Wagon
The Band Wagon is a 1953 musical comedy film that many critics rank, along with Singin' in the Rain, as the finest of the MGM musicals, although it was only a modest box-office success. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway play will restart his career...
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (film)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a 1953 musical film. It is the sequel to On Moonlight Bay. Like its predecessor, the movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington.-Plot:...
Calamity Jane starring Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

and Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
The Desert Song
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
The Farmer Takes a Wife
The Farmer Takes a Wife
The Farmer Takes a Wife is a 1934 play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly based on the novel Rome Haul by Walter D. Edmonds. It was well-received upon its opening night on Broadway on October 30, 1934 at the 46th Street Theatre. The production was directed by Marc Connelly and used set designs by...

starring Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...

, Dale Robertson
Dale Robertson
Dayle Lymoine "Dale" Robertson is an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but...

, John Carroll
John Carroll (actor)
John Carroll was an American actor and singer. He was born Julian Lafaye in New Orleans, Louisiana....

, Thelma Ritter
Thelma Ritter
Thelma Ritter was an American supporting and character actress from the 1940s until her death in 1969.-Early life:...

and Eddie Foy, Jr.
Eddie Foy, Jr.
Eddie Foy Jr. was an American character actor.Born Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. in New Rochelle, New York, the son of vaudevillian Eddie Foy and his third wife, Madeline Morando, he was one of the "Seven Little Foys" immortalized in the 1955 film of the same name...
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
I Love Melvin
I Love Melvin
I Love Melvin is a 1953 comedy film directed by Don Weis and starring Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.-Plot:Small-time actress Judy Schneider dreams of becoming a Hollywood star even as she struggles along playing a human football in a kitschy Broadway musical. One day in Central Park she bumps...

starring Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...

and Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1952 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1952 remake of the famous 1927 talking picture, The Jazz Singer. It starred Danny Thomas, Peggy Lee, and Eduard Franz and was nominated for an Oscar in 1953. The film follows about the same storyline as the version starring Al Jolson. It was also distributed by Warner Bros...
Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me, Kate (film)
Kiss Me Kate is the 1953 MGM film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name.Inspired by The Taming of the Shrew, it tells the tale of musical theater actors, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, who were once married and are now performing opposite each other in the roles of Petruchio and...

starring Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...

, Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals...

, Ann Miller
Ann Miller
Johnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...

, Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....

and James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
Lili
Lili
Lili is an American film. An MGM release, it stars Leslie Caron as a touchingly naïve French girl, whose emotional relationship with a carnival puppeteer is conducted through the medium of four puppets...
Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1953 film)
Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures...

animated feature
Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...

starring Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...

, Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...

and Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
Small Town Girl starring Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...

, Ann Miller
Ann Miller
Johnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...

, Farley Granger
Farley Granger
Farley Earle Granger was an American actor. In a career spanning several decades, he was perhaps best known for his two collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Rope in 1948 and Strangers on a Train in 1951.-Early life:...

, S. Z. Sakall, Bobby Van, Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...

, Fay Wray
Fay Wray
Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...

and featuring Nat "King" Cole. Directed by László Kardos.
So This Is Love released July 15 starring Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals...

as Grace Moore
Grace Moore
Grace Moore was an American operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film. She was nicknamed the "Tennessee Nightingale." Her films helped to popularize opera by bringing it to a larger audience.-Early life:...

.
The Stooge
The Stooge
The Stooge is a 1952 American comedy film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. The film was released on December 31, 1952 by Paramount.-Plot:...

released February 4 starring Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....

.
Three Sailors and a Girl
Three Sailors and a Girl
Three Sailors and a Girl is a 1953 musical film made by Warner Bros.. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth, and written by Devery Freeman and Roland Kibbee, based on the George S. Kaufman play The Butter and Egg Man...

starring Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...

, Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...

and Gene Nelson
Gene Nelson
Gene Nelson was an American dancer, actor, screenwriter, and director.-Biography:Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he moved to Seattle when he was one year old. He was inspired to become a dancer by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films when he was a child...
Torch Song
Torch Song
Torch Song was a British synthpop and dance band of the early 1980s consisting of William Orbit, Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. In 1985, Grant left to pursue other projects and long-time friend Rico Conning officially joined the group. After the release of 'Exhibit A' in 1987, Torch Song as a...

released October 23 starring Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....

and Michael Wilding
Michael Wilding (actor)
-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...

Births

January 6 – Malcolm Young
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, along with the other members of AC/DC...

(AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

)
January 10 – Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...

, singer
January 15 – Boris Blank
Boris Blank (musician)
Boris Blank is a Swiss artist and musician especially famous for his work in the musical duo Yello with Dieter Meier.-Career:...

(Yello
Yello
Yello is a Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank. They are probably best known for their singles "The Race" and "Oh Yeah", which feature a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals, as does most of their music....

)
January 23 – Robin Zander
Robin Zander
Robin Wayne Zander is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick.-Early life:Zander was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, the fourth of five children; he has two older brothers, and older and younger sisters....

(Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...

)
January 26 – Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...

, singer
January 29
- Louie Perez
  Louie Pérez
  Louie Pérez is an American songwriter, percussionist and guitarist for Los Lobos, and Latin Playboys....
  
  (Los Lobos
  Los Lobos
  Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
  
  )
- Teresa Teng
  Teresa Teng
  Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...
  
  , singer
February 3 – Joëlle
Joëlle Mogensen
Joëlle Choupay-Mogensen was a singer of French songs.Born in Long Island, New York, Joëlle was the daughter of a French/Vietnamese/American mother and a Danish father who was serving with UNICEF at the United Nations in New York City...

, singer (d. 1982)
February 18 – Robin Bachman, drummer (Bachman–Turner Overdrive)
February 20 – Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor. He started his career as an opera conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music.-Biography:...

, conductor
February 26 – Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...

, American singer
March 3 – Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....

, singer-songwriter and guitarist
March 12 – Ryan Paris
Ryan Paris
Ryan Paris is an artist who gained international popularity in 1983 for the worldwide hit single, "Dolce Vita". It was written and produced by Pierluigi Giombini...

, singer
March 19 – Ricky Wilson
Ricky Wilson (American musician)
Ricky Helton Wilson was an American instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and musician. He was best known as the original guitarist and founding member of New Wave rock band the B-52s...

(The B-52s)
March 23 – Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...

, singer
March 31
- Sean Hopper (Huey Lewis and the News
  Huey Lewis and the News
  Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
  
  )
- Greg Martin (The Kentucky Headhunters
  The Kentucky Headhunters
  The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock band. They were founded in 1968 as Itchy Brother, which comprised brothers Richard Young and Fred Young along with Greg Martin and Anthony Kenney...
  
  )
May 4 – Oleta Adams
Oleta Adams
Oleta Adams is an American soul, jazz, and gospel singer and pianist.-Biography:Adams was born the daughter of a preacher and was raised with gospel music. In her youth her family moved to Yakima, Washington, which is sometimes shown as her place of birth.Before gaining her opportunity to perform,...

, American soul and jazz singer
May 8
- Billy Burnette
  Billy Burnette
  William Beau "Billy" Burnette III is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995. Burnette also had a brief career in acting.-Family background:...
  
  (Fleetwood Mac
  Fleetwood Mac
  Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
  
  )
- Alex Van Halen
  Alex Van Halen
  Alexander Arthur "Alex" Van Halen is a Dutch-born American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Originally, his brother Eddie had taken lessons for drums, while Alex practiced guitar...
  
  (Van Halen
  Van Halen
  Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
  
  )
May 9 – Kojo
Kojo (singer)
Timo Kojo is a Finnish pop rock singer. He started his recording career in 1977 when his band, Madame George, released their only album: Madame George: What's Happening?...

, singer
May 15 – Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...

, composer & musician
May 16 – Richard Page
Richard Page (musician)
Richard Page , is an American musician who is the lead singer and bassist of 1980's US band Mr. Mister and is now a songwriter and solo artist.-Early life:...

(Mr. Mister
Mr. Mister
Mr. Mister is an American pop rock band most popular in the 1980s. The band's name came from an inside joke about a Weather Report album called Mr. Gone where they referred to each other as "Mister This" or "Mister That", and eventually selected "Mr. Mister." Mr. Mister may be considered as...

)
May 17 – George Johnson (The Brothers Johnson)
June 12 – Rocky Burnette
Rocky Burnette
Rocky Burnette is an American rock and roll singer/musician and the son of rock and roll pioneer, Johnny Burnette. He is best known for his 1980 hit single "Tired of Toein' the Line."-Career:...

, rock singer
June 19 – Larry Dunn
Larry Dunn
Larry Dunn is a keyboardist, musical director and one of the founding members of the music group Earth, Wind, & Fire. Dunn, along with other members of Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.-Career:...

(Earth Wind & Fire)
June 20
- Cyndi Lauper
  Cyndi Lauper
  Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
  
  , singer-songwriter
- Alan Longmuir
  Alan Longmuir
  Alan Longmuir was the Scottish bass guitarist for the 1970s pop group, the Bay City Rollers.-Biography:...
  
  (The Bay City Rollers)
- Dušan Rapoš
  Dusan Rapos
  Dušan Rapoš is a Slovak film director, screenwriter and composer. He is married to Eva Vejmělková, a famous Czech actress. Initially, he was a journalist and worked as an editor at Slovak Radio...
  
  , composer
June 29 – Colin Hay
Colin Hay
Colin James Hay is a Scottish-Australian musician, who made his mark during the 1980s as lead vocalist of the Australian band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist.- Early life and Men at Work :...

(Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...

)
July 6 – Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...

, singer
July 21 – Eric Bazilian
Eric Bazilian
Eric M. Bazilian , is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.-Early life:...

(The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...

)
July 29 – Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...

(Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

)
July 31 – Hugh MacDowell (Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

)
August 1 – Robert Cray
Robert Cray
Robert Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has led his own band, as well as an acclaimed solo career.-Career:...

, blues guitarist and singer
August 16 – James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...

)
August 17 – Kevin Rowland
Kevin Rowland
Kevin Rowland is an English singer-songwriter and former frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners, which had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being "Geno" and "Come On Eileen".-Career:...

, vocalist (Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners are a British pop group with soul influences, who achieved their major success in the early to mid 1980s. They are best known for their songs "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which went No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart....

)
August 24 – Ron Holloway
Ron Holloway
Ronald Edward "Ron" Holloway is an American tenor saxophonist. He is listed in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz where veteran jazz critic Ira Gitler described Holloway as a "bear-down-hard-bopper who can blow authentic R&B and croon a ballad with warm, blue feeling." Holloway is the recipient...

, tenor saxophonist
August 27 – Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...

(Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

)
August 29 – Rick Downey (Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...

)
September 2 – John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...

, composer
September 7 – Benmont Tench
Benmont Tench
Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...

, keyboardist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and others
September 11 – Tommy Shaw
Tommy Shaw
Tommy Roland Shaw is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the rock band Styx. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with the supergroup Damn Yankees and Shaw Blades, and has released several solo albums....

, Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
September 27 – Greg Ham
Greg Ham
Greg Ham is an Australian songwriter, actor and saxophone player known for playing multiple instruments in 1980s pop-reggae band Men at Work when he replaced Greg Sneddon, where he played flute, organ, piano and the synthesiser in addition to the saxophone.As an actor, Ham was a regular cast...

, Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
October 7 – Tico Torres
Tico Torres
Hector Samuel Juan "Tico" Torres is an American drummer and percussionist for rock band classic, Bon Jovi. He also has taken lead vocals on a song on the box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, as well as backing vocals on a couple of the early Bon Jovi tracks, notably "Born to Be My...

, Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
October 10- Midge Ure
Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...

, singer and songwriter
October 14 – Kazumi Watanabe
Kazumi Watanabe
Kazumi Watanabe is a jazz and jazz fusion guitarist, from Tokyo, Japan. He was born on October 14, 1953 Kazumi learned to play guitar from Sadanori Nakamure, one of Japan's grandmaster guitarists. Kazumi released his first recording in 1971, and quickly became a promising guitarist in his own right...

, jazz performer
October 15 – Tito Jackson
Tito Jackson
Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson is an American singer and lead guitarist and original member of The Jackson 5. He is the older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.-Early life and rise to stardom:...

(The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...

)
October 16- Tony Carey
Tony Carey
Antony Laurence Carey is a keyboard player best known for his work with Rainbow.One of his earliest musical experiences was in a band called Blessings, in which he played until 1975 when Ritchie Blackmore discovered and hired him as keyboardist for Rainbow. He played with Rainbow on two world...

(Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...

)
October 21 – Charlotte Caffey
Charlotte Caffey
Charlotte Irene Caffey is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter, best known for her work in the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat."...

(The Go-Go's
The Go-Go's
The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....

)
October 26 – Keith Strickland
Keith Strickland
Julian Keith Strickland is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and one of the founding members of the The B-52s. Originally the band's drummer, Strickland switched to guitar after the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985...

(The B-52s)
October 31 – Johnny Clegg, singer and instrumentalist
November 11 – Andy Partridge
Andy Partridge
Andrew John "Andy" Partridge is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has been known as Sir John Johns and Melchior and rose to fame as a founding member, guitarist and chief songwriter of the pop/new wave band, XTC. He lives in Swindon, Wiltshire, where he was raised.Partridge also...

(XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...

)
November 13
- Andrew Ranken
  Andrew Ranken
  Andrew Ranken is an English drummer, best known as the percussionist for the English-Irish band The Pogues.He joined the band in 1983 and appeared on all of their recordings and tours until their breakup in 1996. He went on to join the bands Metropolitan Waterboard and Kippers, fronted by...
  
  , The Pogues
  The Pogues
  The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
- Keith Green
  Keith Green
  Keith Gordon Green was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Beyond his music, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same...
  
  , gospel singer/songwriter (d. 1982)
November 22 – Urmas Alender
Urmas Alender
Urmas Alender was an Estonian singer and musician who is possibly best recalled as the vocalist of such popular Estonian bands as Ruja and Propeller....

, singer (Ruja
Ruja
Ruja was one of the foremost Estonian rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s. The name of the band comes from a neologism "ruja", for science fiction, though there are people who believe that "ruja" is actually made up of the first letters of the band's important members...

, Propeller
Propeller (band)
Propeller is an Estonian punk band formed in March 1980.- Line-up :*Urmas Alender – vocals*Prince Peeter Volkonski – vocals...

)

Deaths

January 1 – Hank Williams, country musician, 29
January 18 – Arthur Wood
Arthur Wood (composer)
Arthur Wood was an English composer and conductor, particularly famous for "Barwick Green", the signature theme for the BBC Radio 4 series The Archers.-Life:...

, composer, 78
February 2 – Gustav Strube
Gustav Strube
Gustav Strube was a German-born conductor and composer. He was the founding conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 1916, and taught at the Peabody Conservatory. He wrote two operas, Ramona, which premiered in 1916, and The Captive, which premiered at the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore in...

, conductor and composer, 75
March 5
- Sergei Prokofiev
  Sergei Prokofiev
  Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
  
  , composer, 61
- E. T. Cook
  E. T. Cook
  Edgar Thomas Cook CBE D.Mus. FRCO FRCM was an English organist and composer .Edgar Cook was born in Worcester. He was sent to the Royal Grammar School Worcester and began his career as a church organist in 1898. In 1904 he became assistant organist of Worcester Cathedral under Sir Ivor Atkins...
  
  , organist and composer, 72
March 19 – Irène Bordoni
Irène Bordoni
Irène Bordoni was a French singer and a Broadway and film actress.-Early years:Born in Ajaccio, France, from an Italian family, she had been a child actor, performing in Paris on stage and in silent films for a few years, having signed with theatrical agent André Charlot...

, singer and actress, 68
March 29 – Arthur Fields
Arthur Fields
Arthur Fields was a United States singer and songwriter.He was born Abraham Finkelstein in Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but grew up mainly in Utica, New York. He became a professional singer as a youngster...

, singer and songwriter, 64
April 23 – Peter DeRose
Peter DeRose
Peter DeRose was an American Hall of Fame composer of jazz and pop music during the Tin Pan Alley era.-Biography:DeRose was born in New York City and as a boy exhibited a gift for things musical...

, Tin Pan Alley composer, 53
April 29 – Kiki
Alice Prin
Alice Ernestine Prin , nicknamed Queen of Montparnasse, and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse, was a French artist model, nightclub singer, actress, memoirist, and painter. She flourished in, and helped define, the liberated, early 1920s culture of Paris.- Early life :Alice Prin was born in...

, "The Queen of Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...

", 51 (drug- and alcohol-related)
April 30 – Lily Brayton
Lily Brayton
Elizabeth "Lily" Brayton was an English actress, known for her performances in Shakespeare plays and for her nearly 2,000 performances in the World War I hit musical Chu Chin Chow.-Early years:...

, musical theatre star, 76
May 15 – Mabel Love
Mabel Love
Mabel Love , was a British dancer and stage actress. She was considered to be one of the great stage beauties of her age, and her career spanned the late Victorian era and Edwardian period...

, dancer, 78
May 16 – Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...

, jazz guitarist, 43 (brain hemorrhage)
May 30 – Dooley Wilson
Dooley Wilson
Arthur "Dooley" Wilson was an American actor and singer. He was born in Tyler, Texas, and is remembered as piano-player "Sam" who sings "As Time Goes By" at the request of Ilsa Lund in the 1942 film, Casablanca - the Sam in the famously misremembered line "Play it again, Sam" -- a phrase which...

, actor, singer and pianist, 67
June 10 – Grzegorz Fitelberg
Grzegorz Fitelberg
Grzegorz Fitelberg was a Polish conductor, violinist and composer. He was a member of the Młoda Polska group, together with artists such as Karol Szymanowski, Ludomir Różycki and Mieczysław Karłowicz....

, conductor, violinist and composer, 73
June 25 – Jules Van Nuffel
Jules Van Nuffel
Jules Van Nuffel , was a musicologist, composer, and a renowned expert on religious music.-Biography:...

, musicologist and composer, 70
July 5 – Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo , born as Ruffo Titta Cafiero, was an Italian opera star who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" , he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" Titta Ruffo (9...

, operatic baritone, 76
August 14 – Friedrich Schorr
Friedrich Schorr
Friedrich Schorr , was a renowned Austrian-Hungarian bass-baritone opera singer of Jewish origin. He later became a naturalized American....

, operatic bass-baritone, 64
August 29 – Darrell Fancourt
Darrell Fancourt
Darrell Fancourt was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances and recordings of the Savoy Operas....

, bass-baritone, 67
September 1 – Jacques Thibaud
Jacques Thibaud
Jacques Thibaud was a French violinist.Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the conservatory's violin prize with Pierre Monteux...

, violinist, 72
September 21 – Roger Quilter
Roger Quilter
Roger Quilter was an English composer, known particularly for his songs.-Biography:Born in Hove, Sussex, Quilter was a younger son of Sir William Quilter, 1st Baronet, who was a noted art collector...

, composer, 75
October 3 – Sir Arnold Bax
Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...

, composer, 69
October 8 – Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Mary Ferrier CBE was an English contralto who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the classical works of Bach, Brahms, Mahler and Elgar...

, English contralto, 41 (cancer)
October 18 – Marguerite d'Alvarez
Marguerite d'Alvarez
Marguerite d'Alvarez was an English contralto.Born in Liverpool, d'Alvarez studied in Brussels, and made her debut in Rouen, singing Delilah. She made her first American appearances with the Manhattan Opera in 1909 as Fidès in Giacomo Meyerbeer's Le prophète...

, operatic contralto, exact age unknown
October 27 – Eduard Künneke
Eduard Künneke
Eduard Künneke was a German composer of operettas, operas and theatre music. He was born in Emmerich. His daughter was the actress and singer Evelyn Künneke....

, composer, 68
November 10 – Theodora Morse
Theodora Morse
Theodora Morse was an American song writer and composer.She was a Tin Pan Alley lyricist who collaborated to produce a number of popular songs.-Background:...

, lyricist, 70
November 18 – Ruth Crawford Seeger
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Ruth Crawford Seeger , born Ruth Porter Crawford, was a modernist composer and an American folk music specialist.-Life:...

, composer, 52
November 21 – Larry Shields
Larry Shields
Lawrence James "Larry" Shields was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist.Shields was born into an Irish-American family in Uptown New Orleans, on the same block where jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden lived...

, jazz musician, 60
November 26 – Ivor Atkins
Ivor Atkins
Sir Ivor Algernon Atkins was the choirmaster and organist at Worcester Cathedral for over 50 years . He is well known for editing Allegri's Miserere with the famous top-C part for the treble...

, organist and choirmaster, 83
December 5
- Noel Mewton-Wood
  Noel Mewton-Wood
  Noel Mewton-Wood was an Australian-born concert pianist who achieved some fame during his short life.-Life and career:...
  
  , pianist, 31 (suicide by poisoning)
- Jorge Negrete
  Jorge Negrete
  Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno is considered one of the most popular Mexican singers and actors of all time....
  
  , singer and actor, 42 (hepatitis)
December 9 – Issay Dobrowen
Issay Dobrowen
Issay Alexandrovich Dobrowen was a Russian-Norwegian pianist, composer and conductor.He was born Itschok Zorachovitch Barabeitchik in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Empire of Jewish parents. He left the Soviet Union in 1922, and became a Norwegian citizen in 1929.He once played Beethoven's Sonata...

, pianist, conductor and composer, 62
December 11 – Albert Coates
Albert Coates (musician)
Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses...

, conductor and composer, 71
December 29 – Violet MacMillan
Violet MacMillan
Violet MacMillan , was an American actress in Broadway theatre productions, vaudeville, and silent motion pictures. She was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.-Tiny feet:...

, Broadway star, 66

1953 in music

Events

Albums released

Biggest hit singles

US No. 1 hit singles

Top hits on record

Top R&B and Country hits on record

Published popular music

Classical music

OperaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

Musical theater

Births

Deaths

Opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...