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Irish America

Rosemary Clooney

Redeeming Bing Crosby,
the Voice of Christmas

By Bob Lydon
December 22, 2017

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Bing Crosby was once considered the greatest crooner of all and his recording of "White Christmas" remains the best-selling single of all time, with an estimated 100 million copies sold world-wide. And yet the distortion of Bing Crosby's accomplishments and reputation has been as remarkable as his career. Here, we debunk many of the myths that have circulated since the singer's … [Read more...] about Redeeming Bing Crosby,
the Voice of Christmas

Those We Lost

By Tom Deignan, Columnist
April / May 2003

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From acclaimed actors, musicians, novelists and sports writers, to daring athletes and caring doctors, we lost some of our finest citizens in the past year, including William McCool, one of the seven astronauts who died in the space shuttle Columbia tragedy and two gifted, world famous entertainers, singer Rosemary Clooney and actor Richard Harris. ℘℘℘ Most notices of Richard … [Read more...] about Those We Lost

Farewell to Rosemary

By Irish America Staff
October / November 2002

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The singing legend Rosemary Clooney died on June 29, after a long battle with lung cancer. She was laid to rest on Friday, July 5, in her hometown of Maysville, Kentucky. Clooney, 74, had been singing for more than half a century. In 1945 when she was 16 she and her 13-year-old sister, Betty, were paid $20 to sing duets of pop songs on a radio station in Cincinnati. At 23, … [Read more...] about Farewell to Rosemary

Straight to the Heart

By Pat O'Haire, Contributor
December / January 2002

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The Grand Dame of the Big Band era is still moving hearts. The houselights in the expensive supper club on New York's East Side slowly began to dim one evening last spring and conversation, which had given the room a friendly buzz, also began to fade. Through a door at the end of the room came a smiling, heavy-set woman, blonde, dressed in a blue caftan-style gown. Slowly she … [Read more...] about Straight to the Heart