Irene Daye

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Irene Daye (born January 17, 1918 in Lawrence , Essex County , Massachusetts , † November 1, 1971 in Greenville , South Carolina as Irene Spivak ) was an American jazz singer .

Live and act

Irene Daye was born in 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Adam and Bella Daye. Even before she graduated from St. Patrick's High School in 1935 , she toured the country with Jan Murphy's Big Band; she had to stop her tour and fly home to receive her diploma. Irene Daye stayed with Jan Murphy for two years and then moved to band leader Mal Hallett for a short period . In May 1938 she began her engagement with Gene Krupa , which made her known in the jazz world and lasted until January 17, 1941. During her collaboration with Gene Krupa and His Orchestra , she recorded 63 songs with Krupa's band, including well-known pieces such as " Jeepers Creepers ", " Bolero at the Savoy " and her most successful song, " Drum Boogie ".

After this hit, shortly before the final breakthrough of Krupa's band, she decided to end her career at the age of only 23 and married the trumpeter Corky Cornelius . So she left it to her successor in Krupa's band, Anita O'Day , with the duet " Let Me Off Uptown ", which O'Day recorded together with the colored trumpeter Roy Eldridge shortly afterwards, going down in the annals of jazz history and Krupa's band suddenly to make known to an audience of millions.

Daye gave birth to a daughter, Corine, on October 14, 1943. Tragically, her husband Corky Cornelius died the following year, and so the single mother had to try again for an engagement: In 1944 she joined Charlie Spivak's band and replaced the singer June Hutton , who had switched to the Pied Pipers . In the following six years she recorded pieces that were highly acclaimed by critics such as “ Baby Won't You Please Come Home ”, “ It's been a Long, Long Time ” or “ I'll Never Say Goodbye ”, but she stayed with Spivak's band really big hit fails.

In 1950 she married the band leader Charlie Spivak and ended her singing career again. From then on she ran the business of her husband and his band. In the late 1950s, Irene and Charlie Spivak moved to Miami , Florida , where Spivak directed various formations that performed primarily in Las Vegas and Miami. Her husband had to retire from the music business in 1963 due to illness.

In 1967, after Charlie Spivak recovered, he re-formed a small band that played regularly at the Ye Olde Fireplace Restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina - with Irene Daye as the singer. After a while, the Spivak couple moved into their second home in Greenville.

Irene Daye Spivak had cancer in the last few years of her life, which she succumbed to on November 1, 1971 at the William G. Sirrine Hospital in Greenville at the age of 53.

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personal data
SURNAME Daye, Irene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spivak, Irene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Lawrence , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH 1st November 1971
Place of death Greenville , South Carolina