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Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) [2] was a Canadian and American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer whose unique "sweet jazz" style remained popular with audiences for nearly five decades.
Guy Lombardo (born June 19, 1902, London, Ont., Can.—died Nov. 5, 1977, Houston, Texas, U.S.) was a Canadian-born American dance-band leader whose New Year’s Eve radio and television broadcasts with his Royal Canadians became an American tradition for 48 years.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apr 3, 2008 · Guy Lombardo (Gaetano Alberto), bandleader, violinist (b at London, Ont 19 June 1902; d at Houston, Tex 5 Nov 1977). His dance band, the Royal Canadians, was among the most popular of its day in North America, selling some 300 million records in more than 50 years, despite critical disdain for its bland style.
- Beginnings
- Early Gigs
- Career Heated Up
- All in The Family
- Critics Notwithstanding
- End of An Era
- Mortality and Immortality
Gaetano Alberto Lombardo was born on June 19, 1902, in London, Ontario, Canada, to Gaetano and Lena Lombardo. Lombardo senior, who had immigrated to Canada from Italy, worked as a tailor, and the family lived on a small house on Queens Avenue in the town of London. Lomardo was the eldest of seven children—five boys and two girls—born between 1902 a...
Lombardo's band got its start in 1914 when brother Carmen, playing flute, joined Guy on violin to perform a duet for the local Mother's Club. Eventually brother Lebert joined the group, along with pianist Freddie Kreitzer. On June 22, 1919, the band was scheduled to play its first professional gig at the Lakeview Casino in Grand Bend. After the clu...
In the winter of 1923, as Lombardo drove south to Ohio, the odds that his band would make it big were slim. Fiercely competitive, the U.S. music industry was particularly unforgiving of any new talent that had not established a unique, distinctive sound. Although composed of talented musicians, Lombardo's jazz band did not yet have a sound that set...
In 1942 youngest sister Rose Marie Lombardo joined the band as a song stylist. A few years later vocalist Kenny Gardner married Elaine Lombardo. Meanwhile Joseph Lombardo, one of the few siblings who had not become a musician, was hired to redecorate New York's Roosevelt Hotel, where the band wintered for 33 years. However, another member of the fa...
Despite Lombardo's popularity, not everyone was impressed with his music. By the 1950s bobbysoxers were calling the band's music "square." Popular singer Bing Crosbyonce commented that Lombardo and the Royal Canadians had achieved their continued success with only one single arrangement. Back in London, Ontario, some took to calling Guy "Gooey Lumb...
Each year between 1929 and 1952 Lombardo managed to place at least one record on the popular music charts, and 1953 marked the first time in a quarter century years that the Royal Canadians failed to release a best-selling record. Other bad news for Lombardo came the same year, in the form of income taxproblems with the Internal Revenue Service. To...
Carmen Lombardo, who created the band's signature sound, died of cancer in 1971. Carmen's death left Lombardo professionally and emotionally shattered, as Guy had been closer to Carmen than to any of his other siblings. In 1974 the Royal Canadians were stung by the first-ever unfavorable review published in their hometown paper. The band made its l...
Biography. Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, to Italian immigrants, Gaetano Sr. and Lena Lombardo. His father, who had worked as a tailor, was an amateur singer with a baritone voice and had four of his five sons learn to play instruments so they could accompany him.
Apr 6, 2008 · Guy (Gaetano Alberto) Lombardo - b London, Ont, 19 Jun 1902, naturalized US 1938, d Houston 5 Nov 1977; honorary D MUS (Western Ontario) 1971 - was its leader from its inception, ca 1917 as the Lombardo Brothers' Orchestra and Concert Company, until his death.
Jun 19, 2012 · Guy Lombardo. Biography. Guy Lombardo was more than just an orchestra leader, he was an institution. Every New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight millions of listeners from all across America would tune in, via radio and later television, to hear Lombardo and His Royal Canadians play their familiar theme song, ''Auld Lang Syne.''. Lombardo ...
