20 ғасырдың басындағы американдық әнші Билли Мюррей

American singer

William Thomas Murray (May 25, 1877 – August 17, 1954) was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early 20th century. While he received star billing in Vaudeville, he was best known for his prolific work in the recording studio, making records for almost every record label of the era. Murray was the best selling recording artist of the first quarter of the 20th century, selling over 300 million records during the phonograph era.

Billy Murray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Patrick and Julia (Kelleher) Murray, immigrants from County Kerry, Ireland. His parents moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1882, where he grew up. He became fascinated with the theater and joined a traveling vaudeville troupe in 1893. He also performed in minstrel shows early in his career. In 1897 Murray made his first recordings for Peter Bacigalupi, the owner of a phonograph company in San Francisco. As of 2024, none of Murray's cylinder records with Bacigalupi are known to have survived. He also did radio work. In 1929, Murray and Walter Scanlon provided the voices for the Fleischer short animated film Finding His Voice, produced by Western Electric. Murray made his last recordings for Beacon Records on February 11, 1943, with Jewish dialect comedian Monroe Silver. He retired the next year to Freeport, Long Island, New York because of heart problems. Variety estimated he made between 6,000 and 10,000 recordings in 45 years under a range of different pseudonyms, selling up to 300 million records, a record at the time. He died at nearby Jones Beach of a heart attack in 1954 at the age of 77. Murray had married three times; the first two marriages ended in divorce. He was survived by his third wife, Madeleine, and is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York. On May 4, 2020, musician John Mayer covered Murray's "Just As We Used to Do" with his dummy Cecil as part of his Sunday night IGTV show Current Mood.