Affectionately known as ‘The Old Groaner’, Crosby was the most successful recording artist of the twentieth century and the most prolific. He recorded over 2,500 titles and sold more than 250 million records, including over twenty individual million best sellers. ‘White Christmas’ alone had sales of some 30 million. Moreover, Crosby’s crooning represented a decisive shift in singing styles. In contrast to earlier singers who sang with a precise diction and phrasing, Crosby introduced a looser, more relaxed approach that formed the basis of the styles of singers as diverse as Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and

Perry Como. Just as Crosby’s singing style was made possible by the introduction of electrical recording, his career represented the coming together of the radio, recording and film industries. He first found stardom through radio and subsequently his film and recording career, in great part because his resonant baritone voice and affable persona perfectly suited all three media.                 
   Raised in Spokane, Crosby acquired the nickname Bing, after a cartoon character, while at high school. In 1920, while studying law at Gonzaga University, he joined the Musicaladers, a band organized by fellow student Al Rinker. In 1925 he and Rinker toured as Two Boys and a Piano and in 1926, the pair were hired by Paul Whiteman who teamed them with Harry Barns to form the Rhythm Boys vocal group. Between 1927 and 1929, when they appeared in King of Jazz, the trio were featured on several Whiteman recordings.
   In 1930, the Rhythm Boys left Whiteman and were featured in several films, where they sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Billed as Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys, they joined and recorded with Gus Arnheim’s orchestra afterwhich Crosby went solo. In the September of that year Crosby started the nationally networked radio show which won him a huge following for his warm, relaxed, intimate singing style. From the start of his solo career a high proportion of Crosby’s recordings were of film and show songs, however, Crosby started recording material specifically written for his own films. Crosby’s thirties films were light musicals in which he played the romantic lead.
   Though the Andrews Sisters were Crosby’s most frequent recording partners, throughout his career he recorded numerous duets with other artists. Among them The Mills Brothers, Connee Boswell, Johnny Mercer, Louis Jordan, Les Paul, Judy Garland, Mel Torme, Al Jolson, Louis Armstrong and Peggy Lee.
   In the fifties Crosby played a dramatic film role in 'The Country Girl' but his greatest success was in 'High Society', and a musical version of 'The Philadelphia Story'  with songs by Cole Porter. The film also gave Crosby his last major hit, the duet with Grace Kelly, ‘True Love’.