14 Facts About Percy Faith

Percy Faith was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards.

Percy Faith is often credited with popularizing the "easy listening" or "mood music" format.

Percy Faith became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s.

Percy Faith played violin and piano as a child, and played in theatres and at Massey Hall.

Percy Faith moved from Canada to Great Neck, New York and became a US citizen.

Percy Faith remains the only artist to have the best selling single of the year during both the pop singer era and the rock era ; and he is one of only three artists, along with Elvis Presley and The Beatles, to have the best selling single of the year twice.

Percy Faith's Themes for Young Lovers album was a top seller during this era and introduced the Faith sound to a younger generation of listeners.

Percy Faith's first single with a female chorus, "Yellow Days," was a substantial hit in the MOR easy listening radio format of the mid-1960s.

Percy Faith continued to enjoy airplay and consistent album sales throughout the early 1970s, and received a second Grammy award in 1969 for his album Love Theme from 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Percy Faith composed the theme for the NBC series The Virginian.

Percy Faith released one album of country music and two albums of disco-oriented arrangements toward the end of his forty-year career, his last recording being a disco-style reworking of "Theme from a Summer Place", titled "Summer Place '76", which was a minor and posthumous hit.

Percy Faith died of cancer in Encino, California, and was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Percy Faith had two children, Marilyn and Peter, with his wife Mary, whom he married in 1928.

Percy Faith placed 21 albums on the Billboard Hot 200 best sellers chart through 1972, making him one of the more successful easy listening acts sales wise.