Louis Armstrong was a titan who never forgot his humble upbringings, and also a public figure who carefully assessed his own weight in the world. Courtesy of Apple TV+ hide caption
Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
Louis Armstrong
American jazzman Louis Armstrong plays trumpet in his dressing room before a show in 1947 in a New York jazz cabaret. Hurricane Ida destroyed the Karnofsky Shop in New Orleans, which was a formative influence on Armstrong's musical life. Eric Schwab/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Kermit the Frog performs during the 2019 Newport Folk Festival. "The Rainbow Connection" is now part of the Library of Congress audio collection. Mike Lawrie/Getty Images hide caption
Ray Charles performs at The Newport Jazz Festival in 1968. Newport Festivals Foundation hide caption
The Stars Shine: A Newport Jazz Festival Special
Jazz at Lincoln Center
The Stars Shine: A Newport Jazz Festival Special
Lil Baby performs during a Juneteenth voter registration rally on June 19, 2020 at Murphy Park Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Ga. One week earlier, he released "The Bigger Picture," a song protesting police brutality. Paras Griffin/Getty Images hide caption
March 1950: Louis Armstrong plays trumpet in his dressing room before a show in New York. AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Satchmo In His Adolescence: 1915 Film Clip May Show Young Louis Armstrong
Chuck Berry in the Chess Records recording studio. The New York Times reports that originals of Berry's Chess catalog were burned in the 2008 Universal fire. Gilles Petard/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption
From Chuck Berry To Tupac Shakur: Taking Stock Of The 2008 Universal Fire
Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker played a Tiny Desk Concert together as boygenius. Bob Boilen/NPR hide caption
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' version of "We Three Kings" goes on Christian McBride's holiday playlist. Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Brooks Brothers hide caption
Soothe your young one with our playlist of infant-inspired songs. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images hide caption
Clockwise from upper left: Bright Eyes, Ed Sheeran, Louis Armstrong, Etta James, Peter Gabriel Courtesy of the artists hide caption
Mary Lou Williams performs at the Cafe Society in New York in 1947. William Gottlieb/The Library of Congress hide caption
In January 1971, in one of his final performances, Louis Armstrong used "Hello Dolly" to convey the joy of being alive. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
'Hello Dolly' by Louis Armstrong
Audio is no longer available
Don Byron released Love, Peace, and Soul with his New Gospel Quintet on Feb. 21. Till Krautkraemer/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
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Brandon Doran via Flickr
In 1926, everyone did the Charleston on ice. Scherl/Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/The Image Works hide caption
Louis Armstrong tucks into a plate of spaghetti in Rome with his wife Lucille in 1949. Slim Aarons/Getty Images hide caption
Got your burger ready? stu_spivak via Flickr hide caption
Ella Fitzgerald: Putting all her Easter eggs in one basket. Photo Illustration: Lars Gotrich/Photos: William Gottlieb/Library of Congress via Flickr, iStock. hide caption
Louis Armstrong Courtesy of Decca hide caption