Joni James

Joni James (born September 22, 1930 in Chicago , Illinois as Joan Carmella Babbo ) is an American singer of traditional pop music who has released more than 40 albums and had seven top 10 hits on the Billboard charts .

Life

Joni James was born in Chicago in 1930 as one of six children to an Italian-American family. She studied dance and ballet and, after graduating from Bowen High School, performed with a local dance troupe on a tour of Canada . She then worked as a singer at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago.

James was discovered by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) through a vocal performance in a television commercial and signed in 1952. Already their first song Why Don't You Believe Me? sold more than two million copies and reached number one on the Billboard charts. That same year, Your Cheatin 'Heart and Have You Heard? two more successful singles.

As the first American musician, James produced a total of five albums in London's Abbey Road Studios . In addition to her career in the United States, she was also popular in Asia and, among other things, made appearances in the EM Club in Manila in 1957 . Together with the Filipino composer Salvador Asuncion, she recorded the song In Despair , which was a great success in the Philippines.

In the course of her career, James was able to place a total of seven songs in the top 10 of the Billboard charts. It produced more than 40 albums and, according to its own information, sold more than 100 million records. James ended her career in 1964, but returned to the stage in the mid-1990s, giving concerts at Carnegie Hall and David Geffen Hall in New York , among others . In October 2001 she performed with the Count Basie Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia . James' last album Latest and Greatest was released in 2000.

Joni James music has found multiple uses in feature films and television series. Her song How Important Can It Be could be heard in the 1997 crime film LA Confidential . Her If I Were a Bell was used in an episode of the same name in the television series Transparent in 2016 . She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her performance in the field of entertainment .

Joni James was married to the composer and conductor Tony Acquaviva from 1956 until his death in 1986. In 1997 she married the former General Bernard Adolph Schriever , with whom she lived in Washington, DC until his death in 2005 .

Discography

• 1953: Let There Be Love
• 1954: Joni James' Award Winning Album
• 1955: Little Girl Blue
• 1955: When I Fall in Love
• 1956: In the Still of the Night
• 1956: Songs by Victor Young and Songs by Frank Loesser
• 1956: Merry Christmas from Joni
• 1957: Give Us This Day
• 1957: Sings Songs by Jerome Kern and Songs by Harry Warren
• 1958: Among My Souvenirs
• 1958: Je T'aime ... I Love You
• 1959: Songs of Hank Williams
• 1959: Joni Swings Sweet
• 1959: Joni Sings Irish Favo (u) rites
• 1959: 100 Strings and Joni
• 1960: Joni at Carnegie Hall
• 1960: I'm In the Mood for Love
• 1960: 100 Strings & Joni In Hollywood
• 1960: One Hundred Voices ... One Hundred Strings & Joni
• 1960: 100 Strings & Joni On Broadway
• 1961: The Mood is Blue
• 1961: The Mood is Romance
• 1961: The Mood is Swinging
• 1961: Folk Songs by Joni James
• 1961: Ti Voglio Bene ... I Love You
• 1962: Joni After Hours
• 1962: I'm Your Girl
• 1962: Country Style
• 1962: I Feel a Song Coming On
• 1962: Like 3 O'Clock in the Morning
• 1963: Something for the Boys
• 1964: Beyond The Reef
• 1964: Joni Sings the Gershwins
• 1964: My Favorite Things
• 1964: Put On A Happy Face
• 1964: Italianissima!
• 1965: Bossa Nova Style
• 2000: Latest and Greatest

Web links

• official website (English)
• Joni James at Discogs (English)
• Joni James in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Joni James on walkoffame.com

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Music of Joni James. Retrieved July 9, 2017 .