Howard Andrew Williams was born on December 3, 1927, in
Wall Lake, Iowa. Starting out in a church choir and as a
teenager joining his three brothers to form a quartet that
performed first on radio in Des Moines on WHO, and then in
Chicago on WLS and Cincinnati’s WLW, Andy became a
regular on Steve Allen’s Tonight Show in 1955.

In 1955 Andy signed a recording contract with Cadence Records,
where in the summer of 1956 his vocal version of the smash hit
instrumental “Canadian Sunset” would earn him a top ten hit,
followed by Andy’s lone #1 single chart topper, “Butterfly”.

In 1957 Andy Williams landed in the top ten with “I Like Your
Kind of Love” and again in 1958 with “Are You Sincere”.
In 1959 “Lonely Street” and “The Village of St. Bernadette”
both were top ten hits.

Leaving Cadence for Columbia Records, Andy in 1963 reached
the #2 spot on the Hit Parade with “Can’t Get Used to Losing You”.
Among his fifty plus hit singles, were “Hopeless”, “Dear Heart” and
“A Fool Never Learns”, but it would be in 1971 before he had another
top ten hit single, “Where Do I Begin” from the film “Love Story”.

However, as an album artist, Andy Williams was a superstar with
as many as 17 gold albums, including “Moon River”, “Days of Wine
and Roses”, “Dear Heart”, “The Shadow of Your Smile”, “Love Story”
and “The Andy Williams Christmas Album”, still a best seller several
decades later. He would record eight Christmas albums, more than
any other recording artist at Columbia.

The Andy Williams Show on television won three Emmy Awards
and up until the 1990’s his Christmas specials were family
habits during the holidays.
In recent years to the delight of fans, Andy opened his
“Moon River Theatre” in Branson, Missouri where he has a home.
He alternates between a residence there and one
in La Quinta, California.

Visit the official Andy Williams website here