Jo Stafford

Jo Stafford (1917–2008) was an American traditional pop music singer and occasional actress whose career spanned five decades. Admired for the purity of her voice, she achieved by 1955 more worldwide record sales than any other woman artist. Born in Coalinga, California, Stafford made her first musical appearance at age twelve. She was trained as an opera singer before turning to popular music. With her two older sisters, she appeared in Alexander's Ragtime Band in 1938, where she met musicians with whom she formed the The Pied Pipers and became the group's lead singer. Her work with the USO, giving concerts for soldiers, earned her the nickname "G.I. Jo". From 1945, Stafford was a regular host of the NBC series The Chesterfield Supper Club and later appeared on television including two series called The Jo Stafford Show. In 1961, the album Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris won Stafford her only Grammy Award. In the 1970s, she recorded a cover of the Bee Gees hit "Stayin' Alive". Her work is recognized by three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her 1952 song "You Belong to Me" made her the first woman to reach number one on the U.K. Singles Chart. (Full article...)

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