Fun facts about your favorite artists

Irving Berlin

Every once in a while, I run across tidbits of information that enlighten me about a popular song or artist. Here are just a few of them. Feel free to add your own in the comments section!

So sweet! Irving Berlin wrote "Blue Skies" in 1926 after his first daughter's birth as a song just for her. It's about how he felt about being married and a father for the first time: "Blue days, all of them gone; nothing but blue skies, from now on."

At Karaoke Annie we've got the Willie Nelson version and a jazzy version by Ella Fitgerald.

Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett's given name is Anthony Dominick Benedetto. He fought in World War II, when the armed forces were racially segregated, and got himself demoted by having dinner with a black friend from high school. After that, he sang with the Army Special Services Band under the name Joe Bari. It was Bob Hope who gave him the name Tony Bennett.

Karaoke Annie has several Tony Bennett songs including a famous one recorded the year I was born: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline was only 30 years old when she died in a plane crash in 1963, but during her short career she became one of the most influential singers of the 20th century. Patsy hated "Walking After Midnight" and "Crazy" (written for her by Willie Nelson), and almost didn't record either one of them. Ten years after her death, in 1973, she became the first female solo artist inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

Want to sing Patsy Cline? We've got all her greatest hits at Karaoke Annie shows, including this favorite: "I Fall To Pieces."