Bill Kenny (singer)

That same year, their widowed mother, Jennie Kenny (1894–1958) moved the boys to Washington D.C and then to Baltimore, where the family attended St. Peter Claver Church and lived at 1151 Carey Street.

Mrs. Kenny worked as a dressmaker and made drapery for department stores to support the boys.

It was in the third grade that young Bill walked out on stage at his school, St. Peter's Parochial, to sing his first song in public.

It was "The Japanese Sandman".

Kenny demonstrated early on his high Tenor singing abilities, singing C over high C and participating in various school operettas at Booker T. Washington Junior High School and later at Douglass High School where he graduated.

William Francis Kenny Jr. (June 12, 1914 – March 23, 1978) was an American vocalist with a wide vocal range spanning four octaves.

Often regarded as one of the most influential high-tenor singers of all time, Kenny was noted for his "bell-like" vocal clarity and impeccable diction.

Kenny was born William Francis Kenny Jr. in 1914 at Mercy Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Although Kenny was born in Philadelphia, he spent much of his young life in Baltimore, Maryland, with his twin brother Herb Kenny, who later on would also become a member of The Ink Spots.

The boys' father, William Francis Kenny Sr., died of influenza in 1919 when the boys were five years old.

Here is an excerpt from a 1944 interview with the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, where Kenny recalls singing as a young boy

'I've been singing since I was 7 and never had a voice lesson in my life.

I was sitting in class one day, and I began singing.

My teacher wanted to know who was singing and at first I was afraid to answer, but finally, I confessed.

I was singing a full soprano then and unless you knew you would have thought a girl was singing.

Anyhow, the teacher kept me after school, but instead of punishing me, he arranged for me to sing in the auditorium.

My voice hasn't changed much yet,' he said.

'It's still rather high.' He made a few high notes for the AFRO.

'Well, that performance started me singing in earnest.' Although his voice has always been high, kids never teased him about it.

'They always kept quiet when I sang and seemed to enjoy it,' Kenny said.

Kenny's speaking voice is quite low and husky.

It was in high school that Kenny began to focus on singing more than before and often appeared singing solo in his school assemblies.

After graduation, Kenny attended an art school in Washington, D.C., but would on occasion, appear as a soloist in amateur contests in theaters throughout the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

While Kenny was on vacation in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the young singer competed in 22 amateur night club contests, winning 21 of them.

Bill Kenny's first professional booking was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the Ritz-Carlton Gardens.

After Milton Berle's brother, Phil Berle, heard Kenny singing ballads, he signed him to a contract.

Because jobs were too difficult to get in New York City, Berle decided to release Kenny from the contract after a short time.

It was around this time that Kenny sang "Trees" in an amateur contest at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, and won first place, and a position singing with a group known as "The Ink Spots".

Throughout the 1950s and 60s Kenny recorded, toured the world and appeared on many popular variety television shows.

Although he is most famous for his role as lead tenor with the Ink Spots, Kenny also led a successful solo career after disbanding the Ink Spots in 1954.

In 1966 Kenny became the star and host of his own musical variety show The Bill Kenny Show which aired on CBC.

In 1971 Presley recorded Kenny's composition "There Is No God But God".

In the book "Group Harmony: The Black Urban Roots of Rhythm and Blues" by Stuart L. Goosman, Bill Kenny's immense influence on other vocal group singers is expressed in this excerpt:

In 1989, 11 years after his death, Bill Kenny was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Kenny is often noted as being the "godfather" of R&B tenor vocalists.

In a 1992 interview, Kenny's twin brother Herb noted that singer Morton Downey had a tremendous influence on Bill and that Bill would often listen to Downey when he came home from school.

It also is assumed that singer Orlando Roberson had influenced Kenny early on.

Kenny has often been regarded as one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th Century.

Singers such as Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Michael Bublé, Clyde McPhatter, Garland Jeffreys, Johnny Mathis, Tony Williams (The Platters), Del Shannon, Rudy West (The Five Keys), Sollie McElroy (The Flamingos), Jackie Wilson, Johnny Bragg (The Prisonaires), Nolan Strong and Prentice Moreland have all noted Bill Kenny as a major influence on their own singing.

Elvis Presley frequently spoke of his admiration of Kenny and was once noted as saying that he could "honestly never hope to equal the musical achievements of Bill Kenny".