Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa, to John David Willson and Rosalie Reiniger Willson, and he had a brother two years his senior, John Cedrick, and a sister 12 years his senior, the children's author Dixie Willson. He attended Frank Damrosch's Institute of Musical Art (which later became the Juilliard School) in New York City. He married his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth "Peggy" Wilson, on August 29, 1920. A flute and piccolo player, Willson was a member of John Philip Sousa's band (1921-1923), and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (1924-1929).

Willson penned a number of very well known songs, such as "You and I," which was a No. 1 for Glenn Miller in 1941 on the Billboard charts. It was also recorded by Bing Crosby, and by Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra on vocals. Three songs from The Music Man have become American standards: "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Gary, Indiana," and "Till There Was You." The last was recorded by The Beatles for their 1963 UK album With The Beatles. (The album's American equivalent, Meet The Beatles!, was issued in 1964.) Other popular songs composed by Willson include "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (published as "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas"), "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You," and "I See the Moon." He wrote the University of Iowa's fight song Iowa Fight Song, and Iowa State University's "For I for S Forever." He also wrote the fight song for his hometown high school "Mason City, Go!" He honored The Salvation Army with a musical tribute, "Banners and Bonnets." An oddity in Willson's body of work is "Chicken Fat," written in 1962. In school gymnasiums across the nation, this was the theme song for President John F. Kennedy's youth fitness program. It was time to get the country's youth into shape, and Willson's song had youngsters moving through basic exercises at a frenetic pace: push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, torso twists, running in place, pogo springs, and plenty of marching. With an energetic lead vocal by Robert Preston, orchestral marching band, and full chorus, it was likely recorded during sessions for the Music Man film. Two versions of the song exist: a three-minute, radio-friendly length, and a longer, six-minute version for use in the gymnasium. In 2014 "Chicken Fat" was used in a television commercial for the iPhone 5S. In 1974 he offered a marching song, "Whip Inflation Now," to the Ford Administration, but it was not used.

Answer the following question by taking a quote from the article: What was her first popular song?
You and I," which was a No. 1 for Glenn Miller in 1941 on the Billboard charts.