Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, who nearly died this spring, is happily back practicing for his eventual return to work, shown in the upstairs den of his Corona, New York home on June 23, 1971. Armstrong had newsmen in to show his recovery from his near-fatal illness and to thank his fans for their mail during his 10 week hospital stay. (AP Photo/John Rooney)
Louis Armstrong, one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. He came from a poor family, and his grandparents were slaves in the 1800s. William Armstrong was his father, and Mary Albert was his mother. Louis’ father abandoned the family when he was a baby. From 1903 to 1906, he and his younger sister were cared for by his grandmother and uncle until he was five years old. His mother and her family then returned the children to him. He dropped out of school at the age of eleven and joined a boy’s quartet. His passion for music and his career both began.
Because of his delinquent behavior as a child, Louis spent time at the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs.
He learned to play the cornet at the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs. He was taught discipline as well as musical training. He was a member of the band and eventually became the band’s leader.
Louis Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponce’s, and Black Benny became his mentor while he was there.
Louis learned to play the trumpet and cornet, and he also sang.
Louis spent his adolescence performing in brass band parades and on riverboats.
In 1918, Louis Armstrong married Daisy Parker and adopted Clarence, a three-year-old boy.
Louis and Daisy’s marriage did not last, and Daisy died soon after they divorced.
Louis married pianist Lillian Harden in 1924.
Louis accepted a position with New York’s most famous African-American band at the time, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra.
Louis Armstrong’s recordings of the songs ‘Hot Seven’ and ‘Hot Five’ in the 1920s forever changed jazz music. He was a soloist, and jazz had always been a group music genre.
He divorced Lillian in 1931. The following year, he released ‘When It’s Sleepytime Down South.’ This would become his signature song.
Louis married Alpha in 1938, but the marriage did not last.
Louis married Cotton Club dancer Lucille Wilson in 1942. They bought a house in Corona, New York, and spent the rest of their lives there.
Louis rose to prominence as one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. He was a world-famous entertainer who appeared in movies, on TV, on radio shows, in nightclubs, theaters, and dance halls.
Louis enjoyed performing so much that he performed up to 300 concerts per year in some years.
Louis Armstrong won the Grammy Award for Male Vocal Performance for ‘Hello Dolly’ in 1964.
Louis Armstrong received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award one year after his death, in 1972.
Louis Armstrong was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 for his “early influence.”
Several of Louis’ songs, including Mack the Knife, Hello Dolly, and What a Wonderful World, have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for their significance.
Most people consider Louis Armstrong to be the “Father of Jazz Music.”
Louis Armstrong died of heart failure on July 6, 1971. He was 69 years old at the time.
