Louis Armstrong American Singer (1901–1971)

Career

Louis Armstrong was an American jazz singer and instrumentalist who played the trumpet and the cornet. He was born on 4 August 1901 in New Orleans.

His recorded work is tied to several named ensembles. These are Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra and Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars, as well as the pairing Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong. Records under his name are filed under jazz, and ABC Records is the label on file for his releases.

His discography as catalogued here covers 26 albums and 5 singles between 1950 and 2003. The earliest entry is the release La Vie en rose / C'est si bon, from 1950. Later entries on the list include Hot Fives & Sevens and The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, both from 2000, Struttin' from 1996 and Something's Gotta Give from 2003.

Albums from the late 1950s and early 1960s include Louis and the Angels and Ella and Louis Again in 1957, Porgy and Bess, Louis Under the Stars and Louis and the Good Book in 1958, Satchmo In Style in 1959, and I've Got the World on a String and Bing & Satchmo in 1960. The Real Ambassadors followed in 1962.

In 1964 he released Hello, Dolly! as both an album and a single. What a Wonderful World came out as a single, paired with Cabaret, in 1967, and as an album in 1968, the same year as Disney Songs the Satchmo Way and the single Mi va di cantare / Grassa e bella. We Have All the Time in the World, a single, dates from 1969. A work listed among his notable titles is Louis Armstrong--a self-portrait.

Armstrong also built a long film record, with 33 screen credits. The earliest is Copenhagen, Kalundborg and -?, from 1934, and the latest is Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, dated 2007. In the 1930s he appeared in Pennies from Heaven in 1936, Every Day's a Holiday and Artists and Models in 1937, and Going Places and Doctor Rhythm in 1938.

His films of the 1940s include Birth of the Blues in 1941, Cabin in the Sky in 1943, New Orleans in 1947 and A Song Is Born in 1948. From 1950 to 1953 the list continues with Young Man with a Horn, I'm in the Revue, Here Comes the Groom, The Strip, Glory Alley and Saluti e baci. He took part in High Society in 1956 and in 1959 appeared in The Five Pennies and The Beat Generation, among other titles that year. Paris Blues dates from 1961 and A Man Called Adam from 1966. Hello, Dolly!, released in 1969, is the title in his list with the most Wikipedia language editions. The Edsel Show, from 1957, is also among his best known credits.

His YouTube channel had 498,000 subscribers as of 24 August 2025.

Recognition

Armstrong has three recorded awards and honours. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame dates from 1960, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award was given to him in 1972.

Personal life

Armstrong married Lil Hardin Armstrong in 1924, and the marriage ended in 1938. His marriage to Lucille Armstrong is recorded as running from 1942 to 1971. He died on 6 July 1971 and is recorded as having no children.