John McCormack

Genres:	Classical • Country & Bluegrass • Vocals • World Music
Descriptive "tags":	irish folk • celtic • classical • tenor • d20 • old fashioned • 78rpm • ww1 • 10s • popular song • gramophone • greatest singer
Decades Active:	1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s
Links online:	Wikipedia

Biography

14 June 1884, Athlone, Eire, d. 16 September 1945, Booterstown, Dublin, Eire. The son of a Scottish father who moved from Galashiels to work in Athlone’s woollen mills, McCormack was one of the most renowned tenors of the first part of the twentieth century, as well as an early recording star. After winning a singing competition in Dublin in 1903, he made his first records in London the following year. He studied opera singing in Milan, Italy and regularly appeared at Covent Garden in London from the age of 23. From 1907 he had a dual recording career, releasing both operatic arias and popular songs. Among those most associated with McCormack were ‘The Minstrel Boy’, ‘The Irish Immigrant’ and ‘The Sunshine Of Your Smile’. He made hundreds of records, covering virtually the whole repertoire of Victorian parlour ballads, Irish folk songs and ballads, and even German Lieder. During World War I, he enjoyed tremendous success with his...

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