page_title: Andy Williams
section_title: 1953–1961: Cadence years
hierarchical_section_title: Andy Williams / Career / 1953–1961: Cadence years
caption_attribution_description: Headshot publicity photo of Andy Williams.
context_page_description: Howard Andrew Williams was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold-certified and 3 platinum-certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a television variety show, from 1962 to 1971, and numerous TV specials. The Andy Williams Show won three Emmy awards. The Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri, is named after the song for which he is best known—Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini's "Moon River". He sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including more than 10 million certified units in the United States.
  Williams was active in the music industry for over 70 years until his death in 2012.
context_section_description: Williams's solo career began in 1953. He recorded six sides for RCA Victor's label "X", but none of them were popular hits.
  After landing a spot as a regular on Tonight Starring Steve Allen in 1954, Williams was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records, a small label in New York, run by conductor Archie Bleyer. Williams's third single, "Canadian Sunset", reached No. 7 in the Top Ten in August 1956; it was followed in February 1957 by his only Billboard No. 1 hit, "Butterfly", a cover of a Charlie Gracie record. "Butterfly" was also No. 1 for two weeks on the UK Singles Chart in May 1957. More hit records followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" (US #11), "Are You Sincere?" (US #3 in February 1958), "The Village of St. Bernadette" (US #7 in December 1959), "Lonely Street" (US #5 in September 1959), and "I Like Your Kind of Love" with Peggy Powers (US #8 in May 1957).
caption: Williams in 1963
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