Rise of the Crooners

Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Rudy Vallee-these cultural icons whose fame spanned all the important mass media, also played a vital role in the origin and development of the crooning tradition.

Crooning represented one of the most important musical styles of the twentieth century, intermingling with jazz and fronting the big band craze of the thirties and forties. Crooners spurred t...