Read Full Biography. The song became a jazz staple. [27][31] Its idiosyncratic melody in medium tempo–a song about a song–later became an American standard, recorded by hundreds of artists, including Artie Shaw, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, and Wynton Marsalis. [58], Throughout the 1940s Carmichael maintained a strong personal and professional relationship with Mercer. "[80], On his 80th birthday, Carmichael was reflective, observing, "I'm a bit disappointed in myself. See Hasse, p. 21. The name Hoagy came from a traveling circus called "The Hoaglands" who lived with his mother while she was pregnant. )[97] In 1971 Carmichael was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as one of its initial ten inductees. )[30] "Stardust" attracted little attention until 1930, when Isham Jones and his orchestra recorded it as a sentimental ballad with a slower tempo, the re-timing often credited to the band's arranger, Victor Young. [65] Carmichael also found time to write his first autobiography, The Stardust Road, published in 1946. [78] In 1972, Indiana University awarded Carmichael an honorary doctorate in music. Joanne may have died of influenza, which swept the world that year. His parents named him after a circus troupe called the "Hoaglands" that had stayed at the Carmichael house during his mother's pregnancy. The musical opened in 1940 and ran for only three weeks,[44] producing no hit songs. [99] In 2008 the bronze Hoagy Carmichael Landmark Sculpture by artist Michael McAuley was installed at the northeast corner of the IU Auditorium on IU's Bloomington campus. [27] Carmichael recruited Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke, along with members of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra that included the Dorsey brothers, to play at the late October recording session with him; it is not known which of the orchestra's musicians were at the October 31 session when "Star Dust" was initially recorded. Hoagy Carmichael, byname of Hoagland Howard Carmichael, (born November 22, 1899, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.—died December 27, 1981, Rancho Mirage, California), American composer, singer, self-taught pianist, and actor who wrote several of the most highly regarded popular standards in American music. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. (Charles received Grammys both for Best Male Vocal and Best Popular Single that year. I could write anything any time I wanted to. After Carmichael’s death in 1981, his family donated his archives and personal effects to his alma mater, Indiana University, which opened the Hoagy Carmichael Room in his honour in 1986. )[74] Royalties on his standards were earning Carmichael over $300,000 a year. In later 1941 their continuing collaboration led to "Skylark", considered one of Carmichael's greatest songs. Pianist and composer who wrote a handful of enduring standards including "Stardust" and "Georgia on My Mind." His perfectionism extended to his clothes, grooming, and eating. (After 1950, a simpler version became a popular piano duet among American children.) However, Fleming and Carmichael also shared a resemblance. [93], Carmichael and lyricist Johnny Mercer received an Academy Award for Best Music, Song, for "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," which was featured in the 1951 film Here Comes the Groom. [28][29] New York's Mills Music published the song as an upbeat piano solo in January 1929 and renamed it "Stardust." He and his wife Ruth divorced in 1955. [43], Carmichael joined ASCAP in 1931. )[18] Carmichael's other early musical compositions included "Washboard Blues" and "Boneyard Shuffle", which Curtis Hitch and his band, Hitch's Happy Harmonists, recorded at the Gennett studios. [37], In 1929, after realizing that he preferred making music and had no aptitude for or interest in becoming a lawyer (he was fired from his job at the law firm), Carmichael moved to New York City, where he worked for a brokerage firm during the weekdays and spent his evenings composing music, including some songs for Hollywood musicals. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. [49] In 1937, the year before the birth of the couple's first son, Hoaglund Jr. (Hoagy Bix), Carmichael accepted a contract with Paramount Pictures for $1,000 a week, joining other songwriters working for the Hollywood studios, including Harry Warren at Warner Brothers, E. Y. Harburg at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin at Paramount. Let us know if you Have suggestions to improve this article ( requires login ), pictures. Put an end to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you like him, say! 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