Louis Armstrong
Trumpet Player and Singer
Growing Up
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4th, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He had a younger sister named Beatrice. He went to the Fisk School for Boys. He had to work hauling coal and delivering newspapers to get money for his family. When Louis was 11, he quit school and started singing for money. Louis got in trouble a lot when he was younger and when he was 13, the police made him move into a home for boys who got into trouble. At that school, Louis joined the band and learned to play the trumpet.
Becoming Famous
A famous trumpet player named King Oliver decided to mentor Louis. In 1922, King Oliver invited Louis to play with his band in Chicago. Louis played with King Oliver's Creole Band for 2 years. In 1924, a famous bandleader named Fletcher Henderson asked Louis to com play with him in New York. Louis became very famous in New York. In 1925, he made his first recording with his band The Hot Five in Chicago. For the next 20 years Louis made music, toured all over the world, and even performed on Broadway!
In 1942, Louis married a dancer named Lucille Wilson. They moved to Queens, New York and lived there for the rest of their lives. In the 1950s and 1960s, Louis was in some movies and he performed all over the world. He recorded Hello Dolly, which was the number one song in the the country. When Louis got older, he couldn't play trumpet or sing as much because of his health. He died on July 6th, 1971 in New York.