Kay Starr
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
By 1948, Starr made her Your Hit Parade breakthrough with You Were Only Foolin (While I Was Falling in Love). Subsequent hits like Hoop-Dee-Doo, Oh, Babe! and Ill Never Be Free (the latter with Tennessee Ernie Ford) framed her in an emerging vein of the popular market that also looked back to traditional country and folk. In 1952, Wheel of Fortune became her biggest hit and one of the signature songs of the 50s pop sound. She struggled to reach a similar chart peak for several years afterwards, though Comes A-Long A-Love topped the British charts. With her move to RCA in 1955, though the comical Rock and Roll Waltz spent several weeks at number one. It was her last major hit, followed by just one additional Top Ten entry, 1957s My Heart Reminds Me. By the 1960s, she had begun to concentrate more on performing (especially in Las Vegas) than recording, despite moving back to Capitol in 1961. In the 90s, she played several oldies packages, including the 3 Girls 3 tour with Helen OConnell and Margaret Whiting.
