Born in Washington, DC, April 29, 1899
Died in New York, NY, May 24, 1974
Born Edward Kennedy Ellington
- Ellington picked up his nickname as a child because his friend felt he had an “elegant demeanor.”
- Ellington studied piano as a child, but lost interest until he discovered ragtime as a teenager.
- Ellington began working as a bandleader in the late 1920s, and achieved international fame by the 1940s, touring the United States and Europe.
- Starting in 1942, Carnegie Hall booked Ellington for one concert per year.
- Ellington’s long-form and concert works include operas, ballets, musicals, incidental music, film scores, tone poems, and orchestral suites.1
Biography from Songwriters’ Hall of Fame
Sources
- Marcello Piras, “Ellington, Duke,” Grove Music Online (October 16, 2013), accessed January 26, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.org/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002249397.