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Louis Prima

Trivia

Louis Prima

  • He spent the last three years of his life in a coma. In 1975 he had undergone an operation for the removal of a brain tumor, and he never regained consciousness.
  • Is interred at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a gray marble crypt topped by a figure of Gabriel. The inscription on the crypt's door quotes the lyrics from one of his songs: "When the end comes, I know, they'll all say 'just a gigolo' as life goes on without me...".
  • Already a celebrated swing singer and orchestra conductor, Louis Prima added his signature voice to memorable songs from The Jungle Book (1967) such as "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)".
  • Among his many accolades, with such recordings as "Jump Jive and Wail" written by Prima in 1939, and "Just a Gigolo"/"I Ain't Got Nobody", recorded in 1957, he is considered by many as one of the founding fathers of rock 'n roll.
  • Wrote and first recorded the Benny Goodman jazz standard "Sing Sing Sing".
  • He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1615 North Vine Street in Hollywood, California on July 25, 2010.
  • Posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
  • Posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1993.
  • Had two children with Gia Maione: Lena Prima and Louis Prima Jr..
  • His music transcends many genres, he wrote with Barbara Belle and Anita Leonard, the standard "A Sunday Kind of Love", a song for Ella Fitzgerald in 1947 and later many others from The Harptones in 1953 (Do Wop) to Reba McEntire in 1988 (Country and Pop).
  • Brother-in-law of Madeline Prima.
  • Brother of Leon Prima.

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