Vera Lynn And More Of The Oldest Music Makers
At 97, Vera Lynn is set to become the oldest artist to release an album, when her new work ‘Vera Lynn: National Treasure - the Ultimate Collection’, is released. While Vera might be the oldest artist still making albums she’s not the only one to prove that advancing years is no reason to stop making music. Take these five for example.
Doris Day
In 2011 Doris Day began the oldest artist ever to have a UK top 10 album of new material. The then 87 year old’s album ‘My Heart’ entered the UK chart in the number 9 spot, earning her the accolade. The album also became Doris’s first Billboard chart entry in 47 years. Doris is of course probably best remembered for her acting work, which earned her an Oscar nomination in 1959 for ‘Pillow Talk’. So far in her career she’s released 31 albums and been awarded a Grammy lifetime achievement award.
In 2006, a then 79 year old Tony Bennett collaborated with many of his favourite fellow musicians, including Bono, Sting and Michael Bublé for his album ‘Duets’, earning him the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Then in 2011 he became the oldest living artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart with the follow up ‘Duets II’. This time he collaborated with contemporary artists such as Carrie Underwood and John Mayer. The album also included Amy Winehouse’s final recording, ‘Body and Soul’. Now the singer is 87 and there’s no signs of retirement, his next release is a collaboration album with Lady Gaga no less entitled, ‘Cheek to Cheek’.
Les Paul
Guitar icon Les Paul made history in 2005 when he became the oldest artist ever to debut on billboard's top 200. Paul’s Les Paul & Friends album entered the US chart at number 152 a few months after he celebrated his 90th birthday! The album was also his first new recording since his 1978 Grammy-winning collaboration with Chet Atkins, ‘’Chester & Lester.’ Paul passed away four years later in 2009 after suffering complications from pneumonia, he is one of the few artists to have a stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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