Buddy Greco

Colleagues often described Buddy Greco as both a "singer's singer" and a "musician's musician," and he ultimately moved more than a million records. Releases spanning jazz, country, and pop earned him recognition, while his performances appeared on stage, in film, and on television. Born Armando Greco in Philadelphia, he started singing and playing piano at four, first demonstrating these abilities on radio. By sixteen he already carried more than a decade of experience when Benny Goodman discovered him during a set at Philadelphia’s Club 13 nightclub. The bandleader promptly engaged the teenager as pianist, vocalist, and arranger, sending him on worldwide tours with Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, one of the leading big bands of the 1930s. Greco remained with the group for four years. At twenty he launched a solo career, appearing in nightclubs and concerts. Standout recordings included the favorites “Oh Look at Her, Ain’t She Pretty,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” and “Around the World.” Over time he completed more than sixty-five albums, among them a project with the London Symphony Orchestra that he conducted and performed on. The 1960s brought peak success, including a shared bill with the Beatles for Queen Elizabeth II. That same decade he expanded into film and television, becoming a regular on the 1967 series Away We Go, which offered major exposure for his singing and piano playing. A role in the 1969 film The Girl Who Knew Too Much followed, contributing to a career total exceeding one hundred hit singles. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he focused on recording and live work, scoring successes across jazz, country, and pop that audiences celebrated for their stylistic range. He also composed and recorded scores for film and television. After many years performing, Greco remained among the most familiar singers of his generation. Early in the 1990s he joined “The Salute to the Benny Goodman Band” for a seventy-two-show tour that regularly drew standing ovations. Two years at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas came next, and in 1996 he closed two world tours with appearances at the Café Royale in London. These accomplishments led to induction on the Philadelphia Music Alliance’s Walk of Fame and entries in both The Encyclopedia of Great Musicians and The Encyclopedia of Great Jazz Singers and Musicians. Buddy Greco died in Las Vegas in January 2017 at the age of ninety. His sizable discography of albums and hit singles preserves his musical legacy.