Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Al Martino was one of the great Italian-American pop crooners, boasting a string of hit singles and LPs that stretched from the early '50s all the way into the mid-'70s. However, he is perhaps even better known for his role in The Godfather as singer Johnny Fontane, a character supposedly based on Frank Sinatra but with eerie similarities to... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
Every era needs its crooner, and in the early '60s, it was Bobby Vinton. Vinton's sentimental balladeering and orchestral, middle-of-the-road arrangements were a throwback to a decade earlier, before rock & roll had found its mass market. If Vinton is sometimes identified with a rock & roll audience, it's only because his music was bought by... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s
Enjoying great success in music, film, television and the stage, Dean Martin was less an entertainer than an icon, the eternal essence of cool. A member of the legendary Rat Pack, he lived and died the high life of booze, broads and bright lights, always projecting a sense of utter detachment and serenity; along with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis,... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s
Enjoying great success in music, film, television and the stage, Dean Martin was less an entertainer than an icon, the eternal essence of cool. A member of the legendary Rat Pack, he lived and died the high life of booze, broads and bright lights, always projecting a sense of utter detachment and serenity; along with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis,... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 50s, 60s, 70s
One of the most popular male vocalists of the early '50s despite a throwback style that recalled Al Jolson and Tin Pan Alley, Eddie Fisher scored four number one hits between 1952 and 1954 but is probably known best for his celebrity circles -- his wives included Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens. Born in Philadelphia, Fisher... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Ultrasmooth balladeer Engelbert Humperdinck was often billed as "the King of Romance," and for millions of fans around the world, he more than lived up to that title. Despite the strange name and the latter-day ads hawking his music on late-night TV, Humperdinck was one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around, a sensitive lyric... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
Though his influence proved less durable than his record sales, Frankie Laine was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1950s, swinging jazz standards as well as half a dozen Western movie themes of the time with his manly baritone. Laine's somewhat artificial Western nature proved more successful in far-off England where he set two chart... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
One of the most popular vocalists between the end of World War II and the rise of rock & roll in the mid-'50s, Perry Como perfected the post-big band approach to pop music by lending his own irresistible laidback singing -- influenced by Bing Crosby and Russ Columbo -- to the popular hits of the day on radio, TV, and LP. Both his early... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 60s, 70s
His face is more famous than his voice, but Robert Goulet recorded a string of popular albums for Columbia during the 1960s, striking the pop charts with several hits and earning a 1962 Grammy award. Born in 1933 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Goulet was raised in Edmonton, Alberta, where he first studied acting and singing as a teenager. He... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s
One of the prototypical Italian-American crooners, Vic Damone parlayed a smooth, mellow baritone into big-time pop stardom during the '40s and '50s. Early in his career, his inflection and phrasing were clearly indebted to Frank Sinatra, who once famously called him "the best set of pipes in the business." Overall, though, Damone's style was... [+] Read More
Genre: Vocal-Easy Listening
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
At several times close to joining George Hamilton in the select group of persons more famous for their celebrity status than for any active artistic creation, Wayne Newton recorded for the 1960s album market and scored several hits during that time, but has become most renowned for his connections to Las Vegas, where he commanded up to $1... [+] Read More