{"id":3722145,"date":"2014-07-07T11:33:59","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T11:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/time.com\/?p=3722145"},"modified":"2020-11-02T01:02:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T01:02:13","slug":"adoring-billy-eckstine-portrait-of-a-jazz-legend-and-his-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/people\/adoring-billy-eckstine-portrait-of-a-jazz-legend-and-his-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"Adoring Billy Eckstine: Portrait of a Jazz Legend and His Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a time in the post-World War II era when William Clarence “Billy” Eckstine<\/a> (1914-1993) was, for millions of fans and peers around the world, one of the most influential singers and bandleaders of the age. Women and girls and, no doubt, more than a few men and boys swooned over him; young musicians wanted to dress, sound and look like him; music clubs and recording studios wanted to book him. The names of the vocalists and jazz legends who played in Eckstine’s big band, meanwhile, is a Who’s Who of early, mid-1940s bebop: Miles Davis<\/a>, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon and more.<\/p>\n

All the more mysterious, then, why hearing Eckstine’s name not to mention his music in discussions of jazz greats is such a rarity today. After all, an artist who made an impact on giants ranging from Duke Ellington<\/a> (who played in Eckstine’s big band) to Quincy Jones (who looked up to him as “an idol”) deserves to be celebrated.<\/p>\n

Here, on what would have been Billy Eckstine’s 100th birthday he was born July 8, 1914, in Pittsburgh, Penn. LIFE.com remembers the music pioneer and style icon with a marvelous Martha Holmes photo that both captures the man’s charisma and highlights the adoration he inspired in his fans.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\n \"Singer\n
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Billy Eckstine, New York, 1949<\/p>\n

Martha Holmes The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On what would have been Billy Eckstine’s 100th birthday–he was born July 8, 1914, in Pittsburgh, Penn.–LIFE.com remembers the music pioneer and style icon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31476327,"featured_media":3722174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[364,856,1099,1179],"class_list":["post-3722145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-billy-ekstine","tag-icons","tag-martha-holmes","tag-music"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAdoring Billy Eckstine: Portrait of a Jazz Legend and His Fans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Billy Eckstine's 100th birthday--he was born July 8, 1914, in Pittsburgh, Penn.--LIFE.com remembers the music pioneer and style icon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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