Music
Margaret Whiting
1924–2011 · singer
Detroit-born pop singer of the 1940s and 1950s, daughter of songwriter Richard A. Whiting, who began his career writing for a Detroit music publisher.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Englewood, New Jersey
aged 86- Birth name
- Margaret Eleanor Whiting
- Detroit years
- 1924–1929
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Margaret Whiting was born in Detroit, where her father, the songwriter Richard A. Whiting, worked for the Detroit music publisher Jerome H. Remick & Co. and wrote early hits such as “Ain't We Got Fun?”. When she was a small child the family moved to Hollywood, where her father wrote for the movies, and she grew up surrounded by the great songwriters of the day. Johnny Mercer, a family friend, signed her to his new Capitol Records, and she became one of the label's first stars. Her warm, clear voice carried “Moonlight in Vermont” (1944), the No. 1 hits “A Tree in the Meadow” (1948) and “Slipping Around” (1949), a duet with Jimmy Wakely, and many more. Later in life she championed the Great American Songbook in cabaret and on stage, and she lived her last years at an actors' home in New Jersey.
Highlights
- One of the first stars of Capitol Records
- “Moonlight in Vermont” (1944)
- No. 1 hits “A Tree in the Meadow” (1948) and “Slipping Around” (1949)
- Daughter of songwriter Richard A. Whiting (“Hooray for Hollywood”)