Kay Starr

Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known as Kay Starr, was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 1950s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became American #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz". Starr was successful in every field of music she tried: jazz, pop and country. But her roots were in jazz; and Billie Holiday, considered by many the greatest jazz singer of all time, called Starr "the only white woman who could sing the blues."
== Links To Peel ==
Peel mentioned buying Kay Starr's Wheel Of Fortune record when he was a teenager in 1952 on his 14 May 1997 show and described how critics dismissed her voice as vulgar, to which he replied, 'vulgar is exactly what I wanted'. The record was nominated for Peelenium 1952 by the DJ himself in 1999.
In her youth Kay Starr lived with her parents in Dallas, Texas and entered talent contests, one of which she won. It led to her making her radio debut with her own 15-minute show on the Dallas station WRR - which was where Peel himself would begin his radio career many years later.
== Shows Played ==
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;1997
*14 May 1997: Wheel Of Fortune (7") Capitol
;1999
*22 September 1999: Wheel Of Fortune (7") Capitol Peelenium 1952
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
*Guardian obituary
Category:Artists