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A Great Artistic Career: Gene Austin

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The American singer and songwriter, Gene Austin, was the first “crooner.” Since his parents died, he took his stepfather’s name. At the age of seventeen, he was enlisted in the Unites States Army because he wanted to go to Europe to fight in World War I. However, he was in charge of the cavalry in Mexico, with which he got the Mexican Service Medal. After fulfilling his mission, he went to an audition to sing in front of an audience. His performance was so impressive that the company wanted him to work with them.

The main advantage that Austin had to develop his music was the arrival of electrical recording technologies, thus permitting him to make a new form of singing called “crooner” of the 20s and 30s. Indeed, artists such as Frank Sinatra, Russ Columbo and Bing Crosby gave validity and reliability to Austin’s creation of such musical genre that gave birth to their careers. His most significant achievement was, “My Blue Heaven,” which sold more than 12 million records. Another great job opportunity for him was to appear in several movies in Hollywood such as “My Little Chickadee", “Klondike Annie” and “Belle of the Nineties". In regards to his personal life, he got married five times with different women, and then he died because of lung cancer.




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