Mini-Biography of Louis Armstrong

406 Words2 Pages
Louis Armstrong often stated that he was born on July of 1900, but (after his death), it was determined via his baptismal records that he was born on August 4, 1901. He was born in New Orleans, and lived in “one of the poorest sections of town”. Armstrong grew up with a very challenging childhood – his father abandoned the family soon after his birth, and his mother (Who was then unable to pay the bills) often turned to prostitution, frequently leaving him in the hands of his grandmother. At the age of 11, after firing a gun in the air during a New Year's Eve celebration, Armstrong was deemed a juvenile delinquent and sent to the ‘New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs’. (PBS.org) There, he took a music class which made him fall in love with music. In 1914, he was released from the shelter, and (for several years) he made money selling newspapers on the street, hauling coal, and street performing (song and dance). When he was 17 years old, Armstrong began playing at dive bars around town. This public exposure earned him invitations to play in local jazz bands, gaining him a lot of popularity. By 1920, Armstrong had left New Orleans. He first played professionally in St. Louis, and then joined his idol’s (Joe Oliver) Jazz Band in Chicago. He became very popular amongst the jazz musicians due to his different style: it was very improvisational (Rarely the same thing over and over again). As the music styles began to change away from jazz, Armstrong mixed bebop, jazz, etc. together. In 1963, he scored a huge international hit with his version of “Hello Dolly,” and in 1968 he recorded “What a Wonderful World.” (Biography.com) Later in Armstrong’s life, his health began to dwindle. However, he continued to play and record his music to the best of his ability. On July 6, 1971, he died peacefully in his sleep at his house in Queens, New York – two weeks after his

More about Mini-Biography of Louis Armstrong

Open Document