39 Facts About Louis Armstrong

1. Louis Armstrong was born into a poor African American family in New Orleans on July 4, 1900.

2. Louis Armstrong adopted "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" as his theme song and the lyrics are filled with racial.

3. Louis Armstrong was an important early innovator of early New Orleans jazz.

4. Louis Armstrong was a superstar, long before Andy Warhol popularised the phrase.

5. The St Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Louis Armstrong declined to comment on the.

6. In 1999 Louis Armstrong was nominated for inclusion in the American Film Institute's 100 Years.

7. Louis Armstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972 by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

8. Louis Armstrong was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show in the 1930s.

9. Louis Armstrong appeared in more than a dozen Hollywood films, usually playing a bandleader or musician.

10. Louis Armstrong was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence.

11. Louis Armstrong enjoyed many types of music, from blues to the arrangements of Guy Lombardo, to Latin American folksongs, to classical symphonies and opera.

12. Louis Armstrong appeared on the October 28, 1970, Johnny Cash Show, where he sang Nat King Cole's hit "Ramblin' Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel No 9".

13. In 1968, Louis Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the United Kingdom with "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month.

14. Louis Armstrong performed in Italy at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival where he sang "Mi Va di Cantare" alongside his friend, the Eritrean-born Italian singer Lara Saint Paul.

15. In his early years, Louis Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet.

16. Louis Armstrong was not, as is often claimed, a Freemason.

17. When asked about his religion, Louis Armstrong answered that he was raised a Baptist, always wore a Star of David, and was friends with the pope.

18. Louis Armstrong was largely accepted into white society, both on stage and off, a privilege reserved for very few African-American public figures at the time.

19. Louis Armstrong was performing at the Brick House in Gretna, Louisiana when he met Daisy Parker, a local prostitute.

20. Louis Armstrong made his last recorded trumpet performances on his 1968 album Disney Songs the Satchmo Way.

21. Louis Armstrong enjoyed the song and he recorded the American version in New York City on June 26, 1950.

22. In 1931, Louis Armstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame and was convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence.

23. Louis Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to seek new opportunities.

24. Louis Armstrong had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of famous songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael.

25. Louis Armstrong started to work at Connie's Inn in Harlem, chief rival to the Cotton Club, a venue for elaborately staged floor shows, and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz.

26. Louis Armstrong returned to New York in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra for the musical Hot Chocolates, an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist Fats Waller.

27. Louis Armstrong played with Erskine Tate's Little Symphony, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre.

28. Louis Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "Whip That Thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr Johnny Dodds, Aw, Do That Clarinet, Boy!".

29. In 1925, Louis Armstrong returned to Chicago largely at the insistence of Lil, who wanted to expand his career and his income.

30. Louis Armstrong adapted to the tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and experimenting with the trombone.

31. Louis Armstrong lived luxuriously in his own apartment with his first private bath.

32. Louis Armstrong described his time with Marable as "going to the University", since it gave him a wider experience working with written arrangements.

33. Louis Armstrong played in brass bands and riverboats in New Orleans, first on an excursion boat in September 1918.

34. On June 14, 1914, Louis Armstrong was released into the custody of his father and his new stepmother, Gertrude.

35. With this band, the thirteen year-old Louis Armstrong attracted the attention of Kid Ory.

36. Louis Armstrong developed his cornet skills by playing in the band.

37. Louis Armstrong joined a quartet of boys who sang in the streets for money.

38. Louis Armstrong often stated that he was born on July 4, 1900.

39. Louis Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", that is, whose skin color became secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided at the time.