Guess the jazz legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who bumped The Beatles out of the No. 1 spot in 1964

Born on August 4, 1901, Louis Daniel Armstrong would go from rags to riches with a career spanning five decades. Nicknamed "Satchmo," "Satch," and "Pops," the trumpeter and vocalist would influence many genres of music, including rock and roll. In 1964, he would knock The Beatles out of the No. 1 spot on Billboards Hot 100.

Although the date of his birth has been debated, with Armstrong believing it to be July 4, 1900, the fact that his childhood was less than idyllic is a sad truth. Many don't know that Armstrong spent his early years eating from garbage cans in New Orleans and dropped out of school when he was only 11. When he was 13, he shot a gun, loaded with blanks, on New Year's Eve, which saw him sent to Jones Home for Colored Waifs, where he would be introduced to the cornet by Peter Davis, who would become his first music teacher.

Louis Armstrong knocks The Beatles from the top spot on Billboard 100

Best known for his songs "What A Wonderful World," La Vie En Rose," "On the Sunnyside of the Street," "Dream A Little Dream Of Me," and more, it would be his Grammy award-winning song "Hello Dolly," that would top The Fab Four, who had a 14-week stretch at number one. This achievement makes Armstrong the oldest person to have a No. 1 hit on the pop chart; he was 63, a record he still holds.

"Hello, Dolly" was released in 1964 for the same-titled musical film that premiered in 1969, in which Armstrong portrayed the band leader. The film also stars Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Danny Lockin, Tommy Tune, Fritz Feld, Marianne McAndrew, and E. J. Peaker. In 2023, the film can be streamed on Disney+.

Armstrong would influence the world of rock and roll with some of his early works from the 1950s and the song "St. Louis Blue" featured on the WC Handy album. In 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence in the genre. His song "West End Blues" from 1928 is listed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

" If it hadn’t been for jazz, there wouldn’t be no rock & roll."

Louie Armstrong

Armstrong died on July 6, 1971, at his Queen, New York home. The funeral was attended by over 25,000 mourners, with honorary pallbearers Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson, and David Frost.

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